Precision probiotic treatments. When the “ferments” should not be chosen at random

2023-11-08 16:49:16

Current knowledge on the intestinal microbiota demonstrates that this ecosystem, far from being an aggregate of inert microorganisms, constitutes a complex community actively participating in all the mechanisms that characterize human immunity, metabolism and digestive processes.

All this, while on the one hand categorically excludes the idea, still widespread today, of considering the intake of a probiotic as a generic ‘supplement’ therapy, on the other hand places great emphasis on the attention to be paid to the study and to the analysis of individual bacterial species and their properties, with reference to the individuality of individual patients and different pathologies.

It would be a good idea, therefore, to start asking ourselves whether, as we are still often led to believe today, the administration of a heterogeneous mix of probiotic strains really has greater efficacy than the administration of single probiotic strains or, perhaps, it is not exactly the opposite to. Until proven otherwise, in fact, it may happen that different bacterial strains but aggregated in the same commercial product, instead of having a synergistic and beneficial action, may mutually exclude each other and be completely ineffective if not downright harmful for the patient undergoing treatment.

Each of us has a personal “microbial signature” and, as such, cannot be changed. Consequently, knowing this kind of “fingerprint” which, in some way, conditions the phenotypic characteristics of each individual, now becomes an indispensable option to start seriously thinking about the far from remote hypothesis of providing “precision” probiotic treatments which allow each patient to carry out the most useful, fairest and, therefore, most beneficial therapy.

We will talk about it in detail on Friday 10 November, in the next episode of “Fermenti, the secret of life”, the online column hosted by the Immunologist Mauro Minelli, under the scientific aegis of the Foundation for Personalized Medicine and in collaboration with time.news Salute.