Everywhere in our body there are complex microbial ecosystems, called microbiomes or human microbiota, in constant crosstalk with our cells. Among all these ecosystems, the most complex and diverse is that of the intestine, called the “gut microbiota”. The gut microbiota is highly dynamic and inter-individual dependent. Due to this variability and individual and temporal particularities, it is difficult to define what a “normal or beneficial” microbiota is, although it is generally considered that the more diverse and balanced among species, the better. The balance between the immune system and the resident microbiota is critical to health. Dysbiosis caused by population alterations and imbalances in the gut microbiota has been associated with several diseases with inflammatory phenotype, including allergy. Therefore, more and more studies are proposing mechanisms of intervention on the microbiota, such as supplementation with probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics.

The development of high-throughput technologies has significantly increased our knowledge of the gut microbiome, but there is still a huge need to increase this knowledge, particularly in relation to the usefulness and efficacy of the aforementioned supplements and their interaction with the host microbiome. Therefore, this task force aims to bring together clinicians and researchers in the field of Allergology, Gastroenterology, Immunology, Nutrition and Microbiology to increased and summarize the scientific information on the composition of gut microbiota and its association with allergic diseases. The objectives of this project are to summarize published studies on the gut microbiota and its relationship with allergic diseases, and to design standardized intervention studies based on the currently available literature.

We expect this task (TF) force will contribute to increase knowledge and improve treatments to restore and maintain a healthy gut microbiome.

Chair: Marina Pérez-Gordo

Secretary: Marina Pérez-Gordo