Probiotics as a component of pathogenetic therapy in modern medicine: background and prospects

The human body is often described as being a combination of human cells and the microbiome, with a ratio of approximately 1.3 microbial cells for every 1 human cell. The microbiome of each person is unique; within each individual, the colonies of microorganisms in different parts of the body are distinct. The gut microbiota plays a leading role in the human microbiome. Thus, the vital activity of bacteria within the gastrointestinal tract significantly influences both metabolism and the state of immunity. There is a strong link between gut dysbiosis and the development of several diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, etc. The work aims to analyze the current scientific knowledge regarding the role of microbiota in human life and the use of microorganisms in pathogenetic therapy. Pubmed, eLIBRARY, and CyberLeninka were used for literature search. Probiotics have an immunomodulatory and antitoxic effects, and also promote the production of bactericidal substances. Modern probiotic therapy offers various possibilities, such as optimization of homeostasis, treatment for acute intestinal diseases, immunotolerance increase, leveling of chemotherapy side effects, and stress protection. In recent years, in addition to probiotics, new groups of drugs are used to correct the microbiome: prebiotics (contain substances that stimulate the growth of beneficial gut bacteria), synbiotics (a combination of pro- and prebiotics) and metabiotics (contain metabolic products and structural components of probiotic microorganisms). Promising advancements in probiotic medicine include targeted therapy, the use of microbial antagonism factors, drugs based on artificial antisense RNA, etc.