IMR Press / FBL / Volume 26 / Issue 6 / DOI: 10.52586/4930
Open Access Review
Current knowledge about the connection between health status and gut microbiota from birth to elderly. A narrative review
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1 Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Microbiology and Virology Unit, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70100 Bari, Italy
2 Department of Microbiology, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureș, 540003 Târgu Mureș, Romania
3 Emergency/Urgent Department - National Poisoning Center, Riuniti University Hospital of Foggia, 85025 Foggia, Italy
4 Medical Faculty, Clinical Hospital of Tetovo, University of Tetovo, 1230 Tetovo, North Macedonia
5 School of Technical Medical Sciences, “Alexander Xhuvani” University of Elbasan, 3001-3006 Elbasan, Albania
*Correspondence: alexanestesia@hotmail.com (Ioannis Alexandros Charitos)
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2021, 26(6), 135–148; https://doi.org/10.52586/4930
Submitted: 23 November 2020 | Accepted: 29 January 2021 | Published: 30 May 2021
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by BRI.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

The human body is colonized from the birth by a large number of microorganisms. This will constitute a real “functional microbial organ” that is fundamental for homeostasis and therefore for health in humans. Those microorganisms. The microbial populations that colonize humans creating a specific ecosystem they have been collectively referred to as “human microbiota” or “human normal microflora”. The microbiota play an important pathophysiological role in the various locations of the human body. This article focuses on one of the most important, that is the enteric microbiota. The composition (quantitative and qualitative) of microbes is analyzed in relation to age and environment during the course of human life. It also highlights eubiosis and dysbiosis as key terms for its role in health and disease. Finally, it analyzes its bi-directional relationship with the microbiota of the lungs, skin and that of the brain, and consequently for the whole central and peripheral nervous system for the maintenance of health in the human body.

Keywords
Human microbiota
Microbiology
Gut microbiota
Dysbiosis
Immune modulation
Gut-lung axis
Gut-brain axis
Gut-skin axis
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Colon cancer
Metabolic diseases
SARS-CoV-2
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