Food Microbial Sciences Unit, School of Food Biosciences, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 226, Reading, RG6 6AP, UK.
Nutr Res Rev. 2000 Dec;13(2):229-54. doi: 10.1079/095442200108729089.
One of the most topical areas of human nutrition is the role of the gut in health and disease. Specifically, this involves interactions between the resident microbiota and dietary ingredients that support their activities. Currently, it is accepted that the gut microflora contains pathogenic, benign and beneficial components. Some microbially induced disease states such as acute gastroenteritis and pseudomembranous colitis have a defined aetiological agent(s). Speculation on the role of microbiota components in disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, bowel cancer, neonatal necrotising enterocolitis and ulcerative colitis are less well defined, but many studies are convincing. It is evident that the gut microflora composition can be altered through diet. Because of their perceived health-promoting status, bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are the commonest targets. Probiotics involve the use of live micro-organisms in food; prebiotics are carbohydrates selectively metabolized by desirable moieties of the indigenous flora; synbiotics combine the two approaches. Dietary intervention of the human gut microbiota is feasible and has been proven as efficacious in volunteer trials. The health bonuses of such approaches offer the potential to manage many gut disorders prophylactically. However, it is imperative that the best methodologies available are applied to this area of nutritional sciences. This will undoubtedly involve a genomic application to the research and is already under way through molecular tracking of microbiota changes to diet in controlled human trials.
人类营养的一个最热门领域是肠道在健康和疾病中的作用。具体来说，这涉及到驻留微生物群与支持其活动的饮食成分之间的相互作用。目前，人们普遍认为肠道微生物群包含致病、良性和有益成分。一些微生物诱导的疾病状态，如急性肠胃炎和伪膜性结肠炎，具有明确的病因（多个）。对于诸如肠易激综合征、肠癌、新生儿坏死性小肠结肠炎和溃疡性结肠炎等疾病中微生物群成分的作用的推测定义不那么明确，但许多研究具有说服力。显然，肠道微生物群的组成可以通过饮食来改变。由于双歧杆菌和乳杆菌被认为具有促进健康的状态，因此它们是最常见的目标。益生菌涉及在食物中使用活菌；益生元是可被土著菌群中有益部分选择性代谢的碳水化合物；合生元则结合了这两种方法。对人类肠道微生物群的饮食干预是可行的，并且在志愿者试验中已被证明是有效的。这种方法的健康益处提供了预防性治疗许多肠道疾病的潜力。然而，至关重要的是，将现有的最佳方法应用于营养科学的这一领域。这无疑将涉及对研究的基因组应用，并且已经通过对受控人体试验中饮食对微生物群变化的分子跟踪进行了。
