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Review
. 2021 Jun 15;11(6):1090.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11061090.

Highlighting the Relevance of Gut Microbiota Manipulation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Flavia Maria Pavel  1 , Cosmin Mihai Vesa  1 , Gina Gheorghe  2   3 , Camelia C Diaconu  2   3 , Manuela Stoicescu  4 , Mihai Alexandru Munteanu  4 , Elena Emilia Babes  4 , Delia Mirela Tit  5   6 , Mirela Marioara Toma  5   6 , Simona Bungau  5   6
Affiliations
Review

Highlighting the Relevance of Gut Microbiota Manipulation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Flavia Maria Pavel et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Two different conditions are included in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), being distinguished by chronic recurrence of gut inflammation in persons that are genetically predisposed and subjected to environmental causative factors. The normal structure of the gut microbiome and its alterations in IBD were defined in several microbial studies. An important factor in the prolonged inflammatory process in IBD is the impaired microbiome or "dysbiosis". Thus, gut microbiome management is likely to be an objective in IBD treatment. In this review, we analyzed the existing data regarding the pathophysiological/therapeutic implications of intestinal microflora in the development and evolution of IBD. Furthermore, the main effects generated by the administration of probiotics, prebiotics, fecal transplantation, and phytochemicals supplementation were analyzed regarding their potential roles in improving the clinical and biochemical status of patients suffering from Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), and are depicted in the sections/subsections of the present paper. Data from the literature give evidence in support of probiotic and prebiotic therapy, showing effects such as improving remission rate, improving macroscopic and microscopic aspects of IBD, reducing the pro-inflammatory cytokines and interleukins, and improving the disease activity index. Therefore, the additional benefits of these therapies should not be ignored as adjuvants to medical therapy.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; fecal microbiota transplant; gut microbiota; inflammatory bowel disease; phytochemicals; prebiotics; probiotics; supplements; ulcerative colitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Altered gut bacteria implication in the pathogenesis of IBD.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of different probiotics in IBD.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Beneficial effects of prebiotics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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