Abstract
Versalovic and Wilson have collected the opinions and therapeutic strategies proposed by 58 experts on the use of probiotics, alone or in combination with prebiotics, in health and disease conditions in humans and animals. The book offers a comprehensive and easily accessible review of what has been published in the scientific literature since the concept of probiotic bacteria was coined in the middle '60s. While the major emphasis of the work is on clinical applications of probiotics, there is an ample section on the basic biology of both probiotic organisms and prebiotic molecules on which the description of therapeutic strategies gradually builds.
The book is divided in six sections, each including well organized and well illustrated subsections. After a brief introduction, a description of the intestinal microbiota and its relationship with animal development sets the stage for a comprehensive review of the biology of organisms classified as probiotics. This section clearly shows the basic data and concepts supporting the general strategy of microbial interference and microbiota manipulation. This part also includes a detailed review of structure and function of the major groups of prebiotics and most recent findings about genomics and proteomics of lactic acid bacteria, the organisms most often combined with prebiotics for clinical treatment.
The third section is focused on human clinical applications of probiotics and prebiotics, alone or in combination. This section offers a general overview of the concepts behind the use of these bioactive agents in human medicine, and then describes and discusses the results of published human clinical trials of probiotics and prebiotics in several organ systems and disease classes, including allergic and autoimmune diseases, disorders of the oral microbiota and teeth, diseases of the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts, nervous system, and psychiatric illnesses. As a last subsection, a separate commentary is given to the use of the combination of probiotics and prebiotics, i.e., synbiotics, in human diseases.
In section four, the comparative application of probiotics and prebiotics therapeutic strategies in veterinary medicine spans microbiota manipulation in animals, treatment of animal pathologies, and use of prebiotics and synbiotics in household pets.
Section five describes the possible application of phage therapy to attenuate pathogenic bacteria and to manipulate bacteria whose mutated genotypes may alter host homeostasis, or to treat human medical illnesses. However, while having undeniable appeal, the concept of phage therapy is not supported by sufficient structure-function information and in vitro and in vivo observations to warrant any safety and efficacy recommendation at the time of this book publication.
In the last section, the Editors propose what may lay ahead in the field of microbiota manipulation and bacterial interference therapeutic strategies and elaborate on the trends that may follow completion of the human microbiome project launched in 2007.
The target audience of this book is quite large. Because of the comprehensive review of findings generated to date, the very readable style and format, the easy to comprehend figures, and the useful summary tables, this may become an indispensable companion for basic and clinical researchers in the area of microbial manipulation, an easy to use reference book for the practicing clinician looking for complementary treatment strategies for therapeutic protocols, and a great primer for any human or animal health care professional needing to understand the biology and application of probiotics and prebiotics.