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The Human Gut Microbiota

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Microbiota of the Human Body

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 902))

Abstract

The microbiota in our gut performs many different essential functions that help us to stay healthy. These functions include vitamin production, regulation of lipid metabolism and short chain fatty acid production as fuel for epithelial cells and regulation of gene expression. There is a very numerous and diverse microbial community present in the gut, especially in the colon, with reported numbers of species that vary between 400 and 1500, for some those we even do not yet have culture representatives.

A healthy gut microbiota is important for maintaining a healthy host. An aberrant microbiota can cause diseases of different nature and at different ages ranging from allergies at early age to IBD in young adults. This shows that our gut microbiota needs to be treated well to stay healthy. In this chapter we describe what we consider a healthy microbiota and discuss what the role of the microbiota is in various diseases. Research into these described dysbiosis conditions could lead to new strategies for treatment and/or management of our microbiota to improve health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, 30001, 9700, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Hermie J. M. Harmsen

  2. Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hixton, CB10 1SA, Cambridge, UK

    Marcus. C. de Goffau

Authors
  1. Hermie J. M. Harmsen
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  2. Marcus. C. de Goffau
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Correspondence to Hermie J. M. Harmsen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Microecology, Herborn, Germany

    Andreas Schwiertz

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Harmsen, H.J.M., de Goffau, M.C. (2016). The Human Gut Microbiota. In: Schwiertz, A. (eds) Microbiota of the Human Body. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 902. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31248-4_7

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