Bacteria And Bacterial Metabolites Molecular Interplay With Gut Immunity

This is the first comprehensive volume to look at the importance of short-chain fatty acids in digestion, the function of the large intestine and their role in human health. Short-chain fatty acids are the major product of bacterial fermentation of dietary carbohydrates in the human and animal large intestine. They represent the major end products of digestive processes occurring in the caecum and large intestine. As such, they form an important dietary component and it is increasingly recognised that they may have a significant role in protecting against large bowel cancer and in metabolism. Prepared by an international team of contributors who are at the forefront of this area of research, this volume will be an essential source of reference for gastroenterologists, nutritionists and others active in this area.

Microbial endocrinology represents a newly emerging interdisciplinary field that is formed by the intersection of the fields of neurobiology and microbiology. This book will introduce a new perspective to the current understanding not only of the factors that mediate the ability of microbes to cause disease, but also to the mechanisms that maintain normal homeostasis. The discovery that microbes can directly respond to neuroendocrine hormones, as evidenced by increased growth and production of virulence-associated factors, provides for a new framework with which to investigate how microorganisms interface not only with vertebrates, but also with invertebrates and even plants. The reader will learn that the neuroendocrine hormones that one most commonly associates with mammals are actually found throughout the plant, insect and microbial communities to an extent that will undoubtedly surprise many, and most importantly, how interactions between microbes and neuroendocrine hormones can influence the pathophysiology of infectious disease.

This book deals with the noteworthy advancement in the production of bioactive metabolites from microbes and their pharmacological significance. It highlights the pharmacological potential of marine microbes and endophytic fungi and their bioactive secondary metabolites. Emphasis is also given on the significance of probiotics and their specialized molecules in human health and disease as well as their role in dietary intervention for reducing the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This work also serves as excellent reference material for researchers, students and academicians in the field of natural product chemistry, pharmacology and applied microbiology.

Immunoregulation is one of the areas which has witnessed the most explosive advances of immunology during the past decade. It is in this area that the current view of the immune system has arisen and developed. There is indeed little doubt that immune reactions are primarily determined by messages which are genera ted within the immune system and passed among different types of immunologie cells. This cell communication not only determines the type, intensity and duration of the response after perturbation of the immune system by exogenous antigens, but it is also essential for preventing autoimmune reactions and their clinical conse quences. In order to assure aperfect balance within the enormous com plexity of the immune system, it is not surprising that multiple self-regulatory mechanisms are organized at different levels, such as antibody feedback, idiotypic-anti-idiotypic responses, suppres sor and helper T cells, lymphokine signals and genetic require ments. A nu mb er of observations in recent years have, however, demonstrated that consistent contributions to the immunological homeostasis are given also by signals generated outside of the immune system, namely,in the central and autonomous nervous system as weIl as in the endocrine apparatus. Furthermore, the interactions between the immune system and the other body homestatic mechanisms seem to be bidirectional: if immunological cells may be targets of neuroendocrinological factors, immunological products seem in turn to contribute to the neuro endocrine homeostasis.