INTESTINAL BACTERIA AND BOWEL DISEASE: ROLE OF PROBIOTICS.

The gut of a helathy adult harbours a myriad of different microbial species (aproximately 10.14 colony forming units). In healthy adults the main control of intestinal bacterial colonization occurs through the gastric acidity. Moreover, other factors can influence the intestinal micorenvironment, as pH, temperature, competition among different bacterial strains, peristalsis, drugs, radiotherapy, and much more. It was found that, when you have an impaired micorbial homeostasis, the intestinal microsystem becomes unstable, so that leads to an alteration of the permeability of tissues, togheter with the activation of the intestinal immune system (MALT). These microenvironmental changes thus provide the substrate for the etiopathogenetic outbreak of numerous pathologies of gastro-intestinal tract, togheter with a miscellany of extraintestinal disorders. From the foregoing, we understand the real importance of maintaining a correct homeostasis of the intestinal microenvironmnet, in order to prevent the onset of specific disease of the digestive system.