Recycling Metchnikoff: Probiotics, the intestinal microbiome and the quest for long life

Abstract

Over a century ago, Elie Metchnikoff theorized that health could be enhanced and senility delayed by manipulating the intestinal microbiome with host-friendly bacteria found in yogurt. His theory flourished for a time, then drifted to the fringe of medical practice before re-emerging in the mid-1990s as a conceptworthy of mainstream medical attention. Metchnikoff also predicted the existence of bacterial translocation and anticipated theories linking chronic inflammation with the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and other disorders of the aged.