The microbiota in the gastro-intestinal tract of man and animals has been shown to be
important for health and disease. For instance, a clear role has been established for the
endogenous microbiota in inflammatory diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's
disease. But also a role in colon cancer has been suggested. Even a role in such diverse
diseases or disorders as obesitas and autism has been postulated.
Moreover, over the past decades, the benefit of probiotics has been shown in various
areas, including allergy, inflammatory disease, competitive exclusion of pathogens, stool
habit, and even reduction of sick-days in the case of flu or stress at work.
Furthermore, probiotics and prebiotics are used in infant formula to direct the development
of the endogenous microbiota. For probiotics, an interaction with the mucosal immune
system seems the major mechanism by which these beneficial microbes exert their benefit
to the host. Numerous hypotheses on how they might work have been postulated recently.
The role of prebiotics in directing the composition and activity of the endogenous microbiota
is also studied widely.
The 3rd TNO Beneficial Microbes Conference will highlight the most recent advances in
the understanding of the mechanisms behind the health benefit of probiotics and how the
endogenous microbiota influences health and disease. Novel tools will be presented and
the implementation of systems biology in this research area will be highlighted. An important
aspect is application of beneficial microbes, both through probiotics and prebiotics (via
the endogenous microbiota), for product development in food and feed industry.
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