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English
 The gastrointestinal (GI) MicrobiotaThe intestinal ecosystem constitutes the microbiota that can be pictured as a microbial organ placed within a host organism and involves a dynamic interplay between food, host cells and microbes (Turroni et al., 2008).The microbiota plays several significant roles in the digestion of food, energy regulation, generation of short-chain fatty acids, vitamin synthesis, prevention of colonization by pathogens and protection against cell injury (Backhed et al., 2005; De La Cochetiere et al., 2005; Eckburg et al., 2005; Tlaskalova-Hogenova et al., 2004; Turnbaugh et al., 2009). Moreover, the gut microbiota influences the host by directing intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation, pH, and the development of the immune system (Turroni et al., 2008). Recent culture-independent molecular studies on healthy individuals have shown that the intestinal microbiota is specific to the host and resistant to modifications over time (De La Cochetiere et al., 2005; Qin et al., 2010). A healthy microbiota contains a balanced composition of many classes of bacteria (Qin et al., 2010; Round & Mazmanian, 2009). The fecal microbiota is dominated by the Clostridium coccoides group - clostridial cluster XIVa (reclassified as Blautia coccoides) the Clostridium leptum group - Clostridium cluster IV and the Bacteroides (Liu et al., 2008; Maukonen et al., 2008). All three groups are known to positively affect the gut health through nutrient absorption, production of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and epithelial cell maturation (Maukonen et al., 2006; Woodmansey, 2007). Moreover, the subgroup Bifidobacteria seems to be an important part of the GI microbiota, being involved in the prevention of atopic disease, obesity and insulin resistance via enhanced barrier function of the gut epithelium (Zwielehner et al., 2009).  |
