Lactobacilli: Legal Regulation and Prospects for New Generation Drugs.

The global probiotics industry has been undergoing major changes in recent years. Approaches to finding and creating new probiotics, as well as a paradigm of their use in food, medicine, and pharmacology are changing. The catalyst proved to be the increasing popularity and availability of omics technologies, in particular, metagenomic studies of human and animal microbiomes. However, the efficiency and safety of drugs based on probiotic strains, as well as their marketing rates, largely depend on the levels of legal and technical regulation in the field. The present review discusses the aspects of legal regulation in Russia, the European Union and the United States, along with the advantages and disadvantages of probiotics and postbiotics. A consensus is emerging that postbiotics have a number of advantages over classical live probiotic cultures. The review also focuses on the lactobacilli family, which includes the largest number of probiotic strains studied so far and still holds a leading position among probiotics. On the legislative front, Russia is often ahead of its time with adopting such laws as the Federal Law No. 492-FZ on biosecurity, which defined the concept of human and animal microbiota and set forth legislative guidelines for its preservation. The new field of research referred to as microbiome nutrigenomics aims to achieve this goal.

Human Intestinal Microbiome and the Immune System: The Role of Probiotics in Shaping an Immune System Unsusceptible to COVID-19 Infection

Abstract—Today, the human gastrointestinal microbiota (HGM) is seen as an organ that orchestrates the activity of all other organs and systems (namely the brain) and one that plays a major role in maintaining homeostasis of the host organism. A remarkable ability of the HGM as a key player in the development of a normal immune system is its ability to recognize stress signals in its environment, e.g., triggers by viruses and other pathogenic microorganisms, and to react accordingly. SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19 disease, represents an unfamiliar type of virus to the human organism due to a lack of regular encounters between them over the course of evolution. This is one possible explanation of the disproportionate response of both innate and acquired immune systems seen in many people. In this review, we analyze certain immunomodulatory aspects of the HGM. We also assess the state of research in the field of next-generation probiotics, such as pharmacbiotics and postbiotics, and their potential use for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The range of symptoms typical of COVID-19 infection is presented in a concise form. The impact of COVID-19 infection on various organs and systems will be examined in future studies. Nevertheless, although we are in the early stages of the pandemic, we can still predict that COVID-19 will have a large impact of on the incidence of tuberculosis and depression in various populations around the world. The HGM, depending on whether it is normal or dysfunctional (dysbiosis), can be an important predictor of the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. These factors need to be taken into account, and, perhaps, a set of measures for the rehabilitation of certain groups of the population should be adopted. These measures should include the development of next-generation pharmacbiotics (psychobiotics, probiotics exhibiting antioxidant properties, immunobiotics), as well as specialized functional foods.

Human Intestinal Microbiome and Immune System: The Role of Probioticsin Shaping an Immune System Unsusceptible to COVID-19 Infection

The human gastrointestinal microbiota (HGM) is today seen as an organ orchestrating the activity of all other organs and systems, namely the brain, and playing a major role in maintaining homeostasis of the host organism. One of the HGM’s remarkable abilities as a key player in the development of a normal immune system, is its ability to recognize stress signals in its environment, for instance triggered by viruses and other pathogenic microorganisms, and react accordingly. SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19 disease, represents an unfamiliar type of virus to the human organism due to a lack of regular encounters between them over the course of evolution. This is one possible explanation of the disproportionate response of both innate and acquired immune systems seen in many people. In this review, we analyzed certain immunomodulatory aspects of the HGM. We also assessed the state of research in the field of next-generation probiotics, such as pharmabiotics and postbiotics, and their potential use for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The range of symptoms typical of COVID-19 infection are presented in a concise form. The impact of COVID-19 infection on various organs and systems will be taken on in a future study. Nevertheless, despite being in the early stages of the pandemic, we can still predict a large impact of COVID-19 on the incidence of tuberculosis and depression in various populations around the world. A person’s gut microbiota, depending on whether it is normal or dysfunctional (dysbacteriosis), can be an important predictor of the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. These factors need to be taken into account and perhaps a set of measures for the rehabilitation of certain groups of the population should be adopted. These measures should include the development of next-generation pharmabiotics (psychobiotics, probiotics exhibiting antioxidant properties, immunobiotics), as well as specialized functional foods. Микробиота желудочно-кишечного тракта (ЖКТ) человека сегодня считается органом интегрирующих взаимодействий всех других органов и систем, включая головной мозг, и в значительной степени определяющий гомеостаз организма. Являясь ключевым участником в формировании и поддержании иммунной системы, микробиота ЖКТ реагирует на стрессовые сигналы внешней среды, включая инфекцию организма человека патогенными вирусами и микроорганизмами. SARS-CoV-2, вызывающий заболевания COVID-19, считается представителем короновирусной инфекции, с которой организм человека ранее систематически не сталкивался. Это может быть одной из причин нестандартного ответа организма, включая врожденный и адаптивный клеточные иммунные ответы и другие его проявления. В представленном обзоре мы пытались проанализировать некоторые параметры иммуномодулирующего потенциала микробиоты ЖКТ. Помимо этого, оценить состояние исследований в области разработки пробиотиков нового поколения - фармабиотиков и постбиотиков и возможность их применения для профилактики и лечения COVID-19. В краткой форме представлено многообразие форм проявления данного инфекционного заболевания. Последствия течения инфекции COVID-19, ее влияние на различные органы и системы человека нам предстоит оценить в будущем. Однако уже сегодня мы можем предположить последствия влияния инфекции COVID-19 на рост заболеваемости туберкулезом и депрессивных состояний у населения. Состояние микробиоты, например, дисбактериоз, может оказаться важным признаком, определяющим эффективность результатов иммунизации, созданными антиCOVID-19-вакцинами. Все это требует рассмотрения и принятия комплекса мер по реабилитации различных групп населения. Эти меры должны включать разработку фармабиотиков нового поколения (психобиотиков, пробиотиков с антиоксидантным потенциалом, иммунобиотиков), а также специализированных функциональных продуктов питания.