ReviewThe gastrointestinal microbiota and multi-strain probiotic therapy: In children and adolescent obesity
Introduction
In humans, following birth, bacteria colonise all body mucosal and extra-mucosal tissue sites that include the GIT, mouth, hair, nose, ears, vagina, lungs and skin, thereby giving rise to site-specific unique microbiota communities.[1] The human metagenome has been reported to consist of Homo sapiens genes and the genes that are present in the microbes that colonise and inhabit the human body.[2] Hence, the bacterial cohort in addition to contributing cues that allow for the maturation of immune tissues and function to provide immunological tolerance, also encode for metabolic capacity that in conjunction with the human host work to provide metabolites and energy balance.[3] Many of these metabolic activities still remain to be elucidated. This review considers the links between GIT dysbiosis and obesity and the metabolic sequalae that may ensue as well as the potential adjuvant role that probiotics may have in rescuing an obese-prone phenotype in adolescence.
Section snippets
Methodology
A systematic search of the literature was conducted using PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Scopus, EMBASE, MEDLINE and CINAHL.
Discussion
The cumulative evidence over the last two decades from animal and human studies strongly suggests that the composition of the GIT microbiota can influence susceptibility to the development of chronic diseases such as metabolic disorders like T2DM and intestinal tract conditions that include Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome [41]. Proper and sustained colonisation of the GIT from birth is an important trigger to the effective maturation of GIT mucosal sites during
Authors contributions
T. Palacios, S. Coulson, H. Butt and L. Vitetta conception and design of review and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Acknowledgments
Luis Vitetta has received National Institute of Complementary Medicine and National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia competitive funding and Industry support for research into probiotics. The authors have no further conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this review.
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