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Updated: Nov 15, 2025

Microbiota Analysis Using Two-step PCR and Next-generation 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing
Published on: October 15, 2019
Gut microbes and health
Julia Álvarez1, José Manuel Fernández Real2, Francisco Guarner3
1Servicio de Endocrinología y Nutrición, Hospital Universitario Príncipe de Asturias, Meco, Madrid, España; Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, España.
Abstract:
The human body is populated by myriads of microorganisms throughout its surface and in the cavities connected to the outside. The microbial colonisers of the intestine (microbiota) are a functional and non-expendable part of the human organism: they provide genes (microbiome) and additional functions to the resources of our species and participate in multiple physiological processes (somatic development, nutrition, immunity, etc.). Some chronic non-communicable diseases of developed society (atopias, metabolic syndrome, inflammatory diseases, cancer and some behaviour disorders) are associated with dysbiosis: loss of species richness in the intestinal microbiota and deviation from the ancestral microbial environment. Changes in the vertical transmission of the microbiome, the use of antiseptics and antibiotics, and dietary habits in industrialised society appear to be at the origin of dysbiosis. Generating and maintaining diversity in the microbiota is a new clinical target for health promotion and disease prevention.
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