The Effect of Gluten-Free Diet on Health and the Gut Microbiota Cannot Be Extrapolated from One Population to Others.

Jose F Garcia-Mazcorro,Giuliana Noratto,Jose M Remes-Troche

doi:10.3390/nu10101421

Jose F Garcia-Mazcorro, Giuliana Noratto + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10101421

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Journal: Nutrients	Publication Date: Oct 4, 2018
Citations: 25	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Texas A&M University, Universidad Veracruzana

Abstract

Gluten-related disorders (GRD) affect millions of people worldwide and have been related to the composition and metabolism of the gut microbiota. These disorders present differently in each patient and the only treatment available is a strict life-long gluten-free diet (GFD). Several studies have investigated the effect of a GFD on the gut microbiota of patients afflicted with GRD as well as healthy people. The purpose of this review is to persuade the biomedical community to think that, while useful, the results from the effect of GFD on health and the gut microbiota cannot be extrapolated from one population to others. This argument is primarily based on the highly individualized pattern of gut microbial composition and metabolic activity in each person, the variability of the gut microbiota over time and the plethora of factors associated with this variation. In addition, there is wide variation in the composition, economic viability, and possible deleterious effects to health among different GFD, both within and among countries. Overall, this paper encourages the conception of more collaborative efforts to study local populations in an effort to reach biologically and medically useful conclusions that truly contribute to improve health in patients afflicted with GRD.

Highlights

Human beings are superorganisms or holobionts that have evolved over millions of years collectively as a unit, yet independently [1]
“dysbiosis” of the gut microbiota, a cause–and–effect relationship can hardly be established in Nutrients 2018, 10, 1421; doi:10.3390/nu10101421
(GFD) on on health health and and the the gut gut microbiota microbiota cannot cannot be be Figure extrapolated from one population to others

Summary

Introduction

Human beings are superorganisms or holobionts (i.e., hosts with associated life forms) that have evolved over millions of years collectively as a unit, yet independently [1]. Many different host-associated (e.g., age, sex, health status) and environmental factors are known to affect the composition of the gut microbiota but growing evidence suggests that diet is one of the main contributors [3,4,5]. Diet is relevant in newborns and infants, where nutrition is vital for growth and development but can have life-long consequences, a phenomenon closely linked to the gut microbiota [6,7]. The gut microbiota has been studied in a context of health and disease for over a century now. The gut microbiota is in balance with its host and shows certain resilience to change from one state to another (e.g., from healthy to diseased), this phenomenon is still not well understood [8,9]. While different diseases have been related to different states of “dysbiosis” of the gut microbiota (for example, allergies, inflammatory bowel diseases, diabetes, obesity and gluten-related disorders, see [10]), a cause–and–effect relationship can hardly be established in Nutrients 2018, 10, 1421; doi:10.3390/nu10101421 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients

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