Microbes are ubiquitous as they are found everywhere on
the planet. It is therefore not surprising that the human body is made of 90%
bacteria cells and only 10% human cells making us a cocktail of human and
bacteria cells tightly associated in a mutualistic relationship. These microbesmay play very essential roles in the development of the fetus and that may bewhy they are present in amniotic fluids, amniotic cord blood, and even in
healthy neonatal meconium. The human gut microbiome (the collection of all the
microorganisms living in association with the human gut) consists of three
enterotypes namely, Bacteroides (most abundant and most variable genus),
Prevotella and Ruminococcus. Over 1500 gut bacteria species are present in the
human body with more than 95% of them residing in the gut.
These bacteria contain over 8 million distinct genes
encoding for several enzymes and proteins which influence host metabolism. Abalance in the richness of the gut bacteria is therefore required forhomeostasis. In various pathological conditions such as chronic anxiety,
depression, autism and celiac disease, disease-associated dysbiosis are
characterized by an imbalance in the levels, the reciprocal abundance, the
presence and/or localization of normal gut bacteria species, rather than an
overgrowth of well-defined pathogenic bacteria (as observed in C. difficile
infection). Such disease-associated alterations in the microbiome are usually
caused by genetic and environmental factors such as drugs, diet, toxins and pathogens.
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