Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Are we ready for microbiota-based dietary intervention?

Abstract

The last 25 years have witnessed the emergence of a new field of research that focuses on the roles played by the intestinal microbiota in health and disease. This research field has produced accumulating evidence indicating that dysregulation of host–microbiota interactions contributes to a range of chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), colorectal cancer, and metabolic deregulations. Among the numerous factors influencing the intestinal microbiota composition and function, diet is a central nexus, wherein numerous dietary factors can beneficially or detrimentally impact the host/microbiota relationship, in an individual-specific manner. Microbiota-based personalized medicine and nutrition offer enormous promise for the future of healthcare, enabling more precise and targeted interventions. This review will highlight recent literature that has advanced understanding of microbiota-diet-disease interplay in IBD, with a central focus on the following question: are we ready to use intestinal microbiota composition-based personalized dietary interventions to treat IBD?