Description

There are about 500–1000 species of gut microorganisms in humans and the adult gut consists of approximately 100 trillion bacterial cells. Microbial density is established very rapidly in the gut of the newborn and drives stabilization of the normal commensal microbiota. Also, gut microbiota exhibit a linear dose response to dietary perturbations, taking an average of 3.5 days for each diet-responsive bacterial group to reach a new steady state. Besides digestion and metabolism of dietary and host components, the gut microbiota has an important influence on host physiological, nutritional and immunological processes, and commensal bacteria are able to modulate the expression of host genes that regulate diverse and fundamental physiological functions. In turn, host metabolism can also shape gut microbiota by controlling fecal MicroRNA and metabolic phenotypes. Thus, there is great interest in identifying the interactions between diet, gut microbiota, and host metabolism, which will help to unveil the mechanisms of dietary approaches to improve human health via an intentional and predictable modulation of the microbiota. In this Research Topic, we welcome the contribution of Original Research articles as well as Reviews on the field.

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