Any alteration in the gut microbial community is linked to a number of intestinal conditions, including cancer, obesity and a variety of bowel disorders. Depending on how the following behavior causes an alteration, away from or towards a “normal, healthy” community, the potential health impacts may be beneficial, detrimental, or neutral.
Excessive laxative use: Laxative use can influence phyla level of gut microbiota. Drago discusses bowel preparation for colonoscopy and found a significant decrease in Firmicutes abundance and an increase in Proteobacteria immediately after colon cleansing (1). One month after the colonoscopy, the Proteobacteria had decreased two and a half fold and Streptococcaceae had increased fourfold compared with samples before the cleansing and colonoscopy (1). This can lead to microbial dysbiosis through the change of number, diversity, and proportions of microorganisms within the gut, a detrimental health impact.
Probiotic use: Probiotics can increase the diversity, number, and potentially alter the proportion of the gut microbial community which could be both beneficial, as it fosters a bacterial environment, or detrimental, as changing the numbers or proportions of bacteria could lead to microbial imbalance. Probiotics are mainly used for restoring gut microbiota (2).
Consuming fermented foods: Some fermented foods have live or active cultures which may promote microbial community diversity if microbes make it to the intestines and are not killed by the acidity of the stomach.
Other diet (nutritional therapy), exercise and environment: D’Argenio provides a case study that supports the hypothesis that nutritional therapy may modify the fecal microflora (3). By altering diet and exercise, the microbial community may differ in number of the specific microbial populations that contribute to obesity which would result in beneficial health impacts (2). Microbiota of people in a long-stay care environment were significantly less diverse and correlated with increased frailty compared to individuals living in the community (2). Less exercise and restricted diets may promote less diverse communities which may lead to detrimental health impacts.
Birth: Guinane and Cotter discuss that infants contain low levels of microbes so the delivery method, feeding type and antibiotic, prebiotic, and probiotic use can significantly vary the number and diversity of microbes in the GI tract (2).
References
- Dʼargenio V, Precone V, Casaburi G, Miele E, Martinelli M, Staiano A, Salvatore F, Sacchetti L. 2013. An Altered Gut Microbiome Profile in a Child Affected by Crohnʼs Disease Normalized After Nutritional Therapy. American Journal of Gastroenterology 108:851–852.
- Guinane CM, Cotter PD. 2013. Role of the gut microbiota in health and chronic gastrointestinal disease: understanding a hidden metabolic organ. Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology 6:295–308.
- Dʼargenio V, Precone V, Casaburi G, Miele E, Martinelli M, Staiano A, Salvatore F, Sacchetti L. 2013. An Altered Gut Microbiome Profile in a Child Affected by Crohnʼs Disease Normalized After Nutritional Therapy. American Journal of Gastroenterology 108:851–852
