by Andreu Prados
The composition of the gut microbiome depends mainly on diet. A new study sheds light on the most beneficial diet for your gut – and it may have to do with the food quality and diversity you consume rather than whether you follow a vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore diet.
by Cristina Sáez
The fundamental role of gut bacteria in overall health has been recognized for years. Imbalances in its composition have been linked to autoimmune, gastrointestinal, and metabolic diseases, and now also to cardiovascular conditions. Increasingly, scientists are studying the gut-heart axis and suggest that the gut microbiota could become a new therapeutic target for preventing and treating heart diseases.
We continue our series on the gut axis, this time focusing on the gut-skin connection. You might have noticed it yourself—how a heavy, sugary meal can lead to breakouts the next day, or how certain food allergies can trigger rashes. This is the gut-skin axis at work, demonstrating an association between the health of our gut and the condition of our skin, and vice versa.
The human gut microbiome is packed with enzymes that can transform food, drugs, or pollutants. New research maps interactions between dietary xenobiotics and the gut microbiome, explaining why diet can work differently for different people.
by Andreu Prados
As antibiotic-resistant infections continue to rise worldwide, phage therapy emerges as a promising alternative to antibiotics to tackle this public health threat.
by Francesco Broccolo
As it becomes evident that the microbiome impacts the function of the human immune system, scientists have begun to leverage intestinal microbes to reduce harmful inflammation, fight some tumors, and prevent diseases.
Writing in Nature Reviews Microbiology, a group of scientists updates the healthy human microbiome concept by combining independent measures of both the host and the microbial community health, and proposes a framework for discovering health and disease-associated microbial signatures in diverse populations.
The gut, its microbiota, and the liver communicate through complex interactions. This communication, known as the gut-liver axis, plays a crucial role in maintaining liver health and preventing disease. We will explore the role of gut microbiota in the gut-liver axis and delve into the emerging microbiota-based therapies that hold promise for liver diseases.
by Hervé Blottière
While a higher gut microbiome diversity is generally considered a marker of health, specific microbial features that predict a host’s health and well-being are unknown. New studies characterize healthy gut microbiome trajectories in children and adults and link them to health outcomes.
For the first time, a European group of researchers have analyzed the microbiome of more than 2,500 different types of foods. The insights gained will help better identify good and bad ‘bugs’ and improve the quality and safety of existing products. Additionally, the research sheds light on the influence of food microbiome on our own gut microbiome and overall health.
