Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kuokuang Road, Taichung 40227, Taiwan, ROC.
Food Funct. 2014 Apr;5(4):625-34. doi: 10.1039/c3fo60600g.
The ecology of gut microflora, which colonizes all body surfaces, has long coevolved with its hosts in a complicated fashion. Health benefits conferred by gut microflora include defense against invading pathogens, improvement of nutritional bioavailability, and development of the regional and systemic immune systems. The past decade has witnessed growing interest in the fact that the gut microflora affects the host's energy homeostasis by means of various mechanisms, including supplying nourishment from indigestible compounds, producing small biomolecules responsible for lipid profiles, and participating in the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of nutrition. Much in vitro and in vivo research has indicated that aberrant gut microflora plays an important role in the pathogenesis of a wide spectrum of diseases. This is accomplished by a shift in focus, from laying an emphasis on pharmacotherapy to placing more effort on gut microflora normalization. The objectives of this review include illustrating trends in the clinical application of probiotics on diseases, as well as discussing current methodology limitations on probiotic selection. Furthermore, it is expected to shed light on the nature of probiotics, with the aim of giving greater insight into the implications for clinical use of probiotics in the treatment of diseases.
肠道微生物菌群栖息于人体所有表面，其与宿主长期以复杂的方式共同进化。肠道微生物菌群赋予宿主的健康益处包括抵御入侵病原体、提高营养生物利用度以及发育局部和全身免疫系统。过去十年中，人们越来越关注这样一个事实，即肠道微生物菌群通过多种机制影响宿主的能量平衡，包括从不可消化的化合物中提供营养、产生负责脂质谱的小分子以及参与营养的吸收、分布、代谢和排泄。大量的体外和体内研究表明，异常的肠道微生物菌群在广泛的疾病发病机制中起着重要作用。这是通过将重点从强调药物治疗转移到更加重视肠道微生物菌群正常化来实现的。本综述的目的包括说明益生菌在疾病中的临床应用趋势，以及讨论益生菌选择的当前方法学限制。此外，预计这将阐明益生菌的性质，旨在深入了解益生菌在治疗疾病中的临床应用的意义。
