HERBAL MODULATORS OF GUT DYSBIOSIS: PREBIOTIC, PROBIOTIC, AND SYNBIOTIC PERSPECTIVES
Yogeswari Y., Grace Soumya P., Sangeetha T., Sravya T., Balakoti E., Swathi P.*
ABSTRACT
Gut dysbiosis is defined as a state of disturbed homeostasis in the microbiota-host relationship producing deleterious effects on human health, and it has been associated with a variety of diseases, such as metabolic, gastrointestinal, neurological, and autoimmune diseases. This review delineates the therapeutic potential of herbal drugs in ameliorating gut-microbiota dysbiosis through prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic action. Plant-derived secondary metabolites, including polyphenols, flavonoids, saponins, and polysaccharides from substances such as Curcuma longa, Panax ginseng, Camellia sinensis, and Allium sativum, selectively ferment beneficial species of microbiota, increase the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), and inhibit pathogens. These phytochemicals also modulate host metabolism via the control of bile acid conversion, integrity of the gut barrier, and systemic inflammation. In addition, fermented herbal formulas contain live microbial strains that resemble probiotics and promote microbiome diversity. The review raises the opposite nature of herbal drugs as substrates and modulators for microbial activity, which enables them to be candidates for microbiome-targeted interventions. Herbal therapeutics might provide an effective treatment modality for gut homeostasis restoration and dysbiosis-induced diseases via dietary, microbial, as well as lifestyle manipulations.
Keywords: Gut dysbiosis, Microbiome, Probiotics, Systemic inflammation, Phytochemicals.
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