COMPENDIUM ON FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE - Flipbook - Page 766
Inadequate levels can reduce the efficiency of prebiotic
metabolism and limit the benefits of high-fiber diets [51].
Bifidobacterium adolescentis
As a keystone species in the infant and adult gut, this organism:
● Establishes critical ecological niches early in life [52]
● Degrades human milk oligosaccharides in infants [53]
● Metabolizes complex plant polysaccharides in adults [54]
● Produces acetate that feeds butyrate-producing bacteria
[55]
● Maintains acidic pH that inhibits pathogen growth [56]
● Stimulates appropriate immune development [57]
● Produces exopolysaccharides that support microbial
adhesion [58]
● Competes effectively with opportunistic organisms [59]
Clinical significance includes:
● Essential role in infant gut development [60]
● Protection against allergic conditions [61]
● Barrier against pathogen colonization [62]
● Support for healthy immune tolerance [63]
● Conversion of dietary components to bioactive metabolites
[64]
Diminished colonization is associated with various inflammatory
and metabolic disorders [65].
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