Ulcerative Colitis and Microorganisms

Abstract

The gut, due to its anatomical and functional characteristics, forms the largest area of contact with the outside world. Unlike skin that acts as a defensive barrier, digestive and absorptive processes in the intestine require a certain amount of permeability. This facilitates and creates an optimal niche for the development of a large community of microorganisms that maintains, ideally, a commensal relationship with the host. This ecosystem, known as microbiota, is essential for the digestion of certain carbohydrates, the production and metabolism of nutrients necessary for life and for proper development and maturation of the immune system. The aim of this chapter is to offer a thorough review of recent publications and scholarly work in order to explain, and somehow clarify, the always complex interaction between humans and microorganisms, as well as the implications that the later have in Ulcerative Colitis.