ABSTRACT
The Human Genome Project was completed a decade ago, leaving a legacy of process, tools, and infrastructure now leveraged for the study of the microbes that reside in and on the human body as determinants of health and disease. This research focus has been branded “the Human Microbiome Project (HMP).” The human gut houses all forms of life, including bacteria, fungi, and archaea. Although the gut of a newborn is sterile at the time of birth, it gradually acquires hoards of microbial population during postnatal life
Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................253 What is Microbiome? ......................................................................................255 Composition of Gut Microbiota ......................................................................256 Gut Microbiota and Nutraceuticals .................................................................257 Gut Microbiota and Probiotics .......................................................................260 Gut Microbiota and Prebiotics ........................................................................261 Clinical Applications of Probiotics .................................................................263 Probiotics in Infections ...................................................................................264 Probiotics in Pediatric Urology ......................................................................265 Chronic Nonspecific Diarrhea of Infancy ......................................................266 Protection of Intestinal Epithelial Cells ..........................................................266 Lactose Degradation by Probiotic Bacteria ....................................................267 Probiotics for Occasional Constipation ..........................................................267 Probiotics in Putrefactive Processes ...............................................................267 Conclusions .....................................................................................................268 References .......................................................................................................268
