9.1. Gut Microbiome Initiatives
Since the discovery of microorganisms in the 17
th century; technologies and knowledge in this field have advanced rapidly, consequently resulting in microbiome mapping initiatives becoming a reality in the 21
st century. Arnold et al. [
111] stated that , microbiome research is an intrinsically multidisciplinary field, that has been able to reap the benefits of technological advancements in systems and synthetic biology, biomaterials engineering, and traditional microbiology. Prior to microbiome mapping, DNA technology and improvements thereof; paved the way for the advancements in whole genome sequencing and microbial population study shifts in the human body. Further advancements have resulted in the knowledge on how specific microbial compounds and activities result in health benefits, which has been developing area of research and developed [
112].
The human body hosts complex microbial communities, wherein the combined membership of these organisms outnumbers our own cells by at least a factor of 10. The total number of microorganisms in the human body can reach ~100 trillion. The cells are responsible for awarding us with crucial traits which include our reliance on them to aid in nutrition, resist pathogens, and educate our immune system [
113]. In comparison to other parts of the body, the human gut has the largest number of microbes, as both the gut and skin are immensely immersed with microbiota. It is estimated that the skin has about 10
12 cells while the gut accounts for 10
14 cells [
114], [
115].
The subsequent sections will focus on the gut and skin microbiome, which interestingly, share astoundingly similar characteristics as they are highly analogous to each other, both in terms of purpose and functionality [
116]. According to O’Neill et al. [
117], both organs are highly innervated and vascularised. Both these organs are essential for immune and neuroendocrine function. Furthermore, the inner surface of the gut and the outer surface of the skin are both covered by epithelial cells (ECs) which have direct contact with the exogenous environment [
118].
According to Thursby and Juge [
119], the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract represents one of the largest interfaces (250–400 m
2) between the host, environmental factors and antigens in the human body. In an average lifespan, around 60 tonnes of food pass through the human GI tract. This includes an abundance of microorganisms from the environment which poses a major threat to gut integrity. The digestive process starts after the ingestion of food in the mouth where the food is grinded by teeth into smaller particles which are then emptied into the mouth. Due to the harsh environment in the stomach the microbial community that exists is at a low concentration of ~10
2 cells. Once food is passed from the stomach, the contents called chyme are emptied slowly into the small intestine. In the small intestine, the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum; food is mixed with digestive juices from the pancreas, liver, and intestine, and push the mixture forward for further digestion. In the small intestine the microbial community can reach between 10
4 to 10
6 cells (
Figure 1). Thereafter, all non- absorbed nutrients and waste matter that was not absorbed or used; is passed into the colon where there are ~between 10
12 to 10
14 cells (
Figure 7) [
120].
The microorganisms, bacteria, archaea and eukarya, that colonise the GI tract may exert countless benefits through a wide array of physiological functions. These may include but are not limited to improving gut integrity or shaping the intestinal epithelium, protecting against pathogens, harvesting energy, and regulating host immunity. However, there is potential for these mechanisms to be disrupted because of an altered microbial composition, known as dysbiosis [
121,
122,
123,
124,
125].
Thursby and Juge, (2017) also added the role of gut microbiota in human health has gained increasing attention. Recent studies has shown that diverse groups of bacteria species colonise the gut, and the composition is strongly linked to every person’s individual GI health. Additionally, there is growing evidence that indicates that by administering probiotics, the microbial ecosystem is modified, thereby exerting a variety of health benefits including a prevention and/or treatment of diseases (Gareau et al. 2010).
Microbial colonization of the GI tract mucosal tissue starts from infancy, these early life events have a long-standing consequence to the development of the human body and how it responds to diseases. During development from infancy, the developing microbiome is responsible for facilitating tolerance to environmental exposures or contributing to the development of disease, including inflammatory bowel disease, allergy, and asthma. Recent studies conducted by Gensollen et al.[
126] stated that there is a critical period during early development wherein the disruption of optimal host-commensal interactions can lead to persistent and in some cases irreversible defects in the development and training of specific immune subsets.
The role of the microorganisms that form the microbiome is to facilitate metabolism, such as breaking down indigestible complex polysaccharides into essential nutrients such as vitamin K and B12, butyrate, and propionate [
127]. The latter has been found to have a positive effect on the epithelial barrier integrity, which plays a crucial role in protecting microbiota from pathogenic microorganisms and avoiding inflammation in the gut [
128]. Researchers that focus on the composition of the human microbiome have found that the most abundant genera of fungi in descending order of abundance in the human gut are Saccharomyces, Malassezia, and Candida [
129]; with eight out of 15 genera comprising ascomycetes and approximately 5–65% comprising of Saccharomyces.
In recent microbiome studies,
Saccharomyces strains have been observed in up to 96.8% of samples [
130,
131,
132]. Since fungi are harboured in the gut environment, it follows that some resident species might provide a symbiotic benefit to the human host. The role of microbiome in the GI tract and its influence on human health has unlocked a significant area of interest, and further investigation, particularly the profiling of the African microbiome, is vital for further discovery in the development of niche treatment technologies for the global population.
9.2. Skin Microbiome
The skin is the largest and most external barrier of the body with the outer environment; therefore, it is considered the external interface between the body and the environment [
133]. The skin is richly perfused with immune cells and heavily colonized by microbial cells, which in turn, trains immune cells and determines the well-being of the host. Also, it is worth noting that despite the skin covering many areas of the human body, the population and microbial concentration differs per area. It has also been found that a shift in population can also shift depending on the external environment, disease and diet [
134].
The skin epidermis, including sweat and sebaceous glands, provide a total skin surface of about 25 m
2 and forms one of the largest epithelial surfaces for interaction with microbes [
116]. Epithelial cells cover the surfaces of the body such as skin, airways, or the intestinal tract and provide an important link between the outside environment and the body interior [
135].
Like those in our gut, skin microorganisms have important functions in the protection against invading pathogens, the teaching of our immune system and the breakdown of natural products [
136,
137,
138,
139]. According to Byrd et al. [
140], several skin microbiome assessment surveys have to date, used amplicon sequencing, however in recent years; major technical breakthroughs have occurred, which uses shotgun metagenomic sequencing. The advantage of using the latter approach is that it does not sequence specific target regions. This technique simultaneously captures all genetic material in a sample, including human, bacterial, fungal, archaeal and viral microorganisms, providing vital information on the microbial composition.
9.3. Case Studies Assessing the Use of Yeast Probiotics and Its Impact on the Host Microbiome
The microbiome of a healthy individual consists of balanced populations of both beneficial and harmful microorganisms [
141]. These play a major role in providing the host with physiological, metabolic, and immune functions useful in warding off pathogens and any imbalance results in increased levels of harmful microbes. There is a mutual relationship between the gut and human flora. The colon harbors the highest population, however, only < 0.1% of these are fungi and
Saccharomyces and
Candida are the dominant genera [
142,
143,
144]. As the most commercialized probiotic yeast,
S. boulardii is widely used in treatment of gut-related diseases such as Traveler’s diarrhea, AIDS-associated syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. Oral administration of
S. boulardii alone or in combination with other probiotics has proven to induce changes in the gut microbial combinations in various clinical reports [
143,
145,
146,
147]. S.
boulardii influences the host microbiome by direct inhibition of pathogenic intestinal microbes and normalizing the pH of the gastrointestinal tract, this is achieved by reducing the pathogenicity of toxic microorganisms [
144].
A recent study representing the effect of the use of
S, boulardii on the gut microbiota was reported by Yang et al. Yang et al. (2022). The potential of this probiotic yeast in treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in mice through gut-liver axis was demonstrated. NASH is a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease associated with inflammation, damage, and presence of excess fat in the liver. Yang et al. [
149], fed NASH-inducing diet [Methionine-choline-deficient (MCD)] to all test mice and the control group was given normal chow diet (NCD). Florastor
®, a commercial product containing lyophilized
S. boulardii CNCM I-745 as a main component was also administered by gavage to random mice (both on MCD diet and the control group) five days a week. After 8 weeks, the mouse fecal genomic DNA was extracted, sequenced, and analyzed. The positive effect of administering
S. boulardii to MCD diet-fed mice was evident (summarized in
Table 4) by the microbial composition presented at family level [
148]. It was concluded that this probiotic played a role in restoring the gut microbiome diversity that was reduced by the diet. Additionally, the MCD diet resulted in changes in the mycobiome, dominated by
Pichia and
Trichosporon. This was an indication of the robustness of these fungal genera under severe conditions in the gut [
148]. Furthermore, the positive impacts of the gut mycobiota on regulating functions of other human organs such as brain, pancreas, liver, and kidney as well as overall host immunity towards intestinal and extraintestinal diseases has been comprehensively reviewed by [
150].
Co-supplementation of multi-strain probiotic has also shown to have even outstanding benefits. The World Health Organisation stated that “mental health is critically important for everyone, everywhere” (WHO, 2002), the positive impacts of probiotics in cognitive performance were reported by Bloemendaal et al. [
152]. This was determined by the increase in population of plant fibre degrading bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids which are known for their beneficial effect on gut and brain health [
152].
In another study, benefits of co-supplementation of bacterial (
Lacticasebacillus rhamnosus) and fungal (
S. boulardii) probiotics protected the gut microbiome post antibiotic administration
in vitro [
153]. Here, the human intestinal ecosystem was simulated using SHIME model. Three regions of the gastrointestinal tract were represented, upper part, proximal and distal colon. Mucin-covered mucosms were included in the proximal colon to simulate luminal mucus-associated microbiota and the parameters in the reactors were stabilized for two weeks. The study involved two healthy human adults who consented to give feacal samples. After inoculation, baseline conditions were established and then a 5-day antibiotic (amoxicillin and clavulanic acid) treatment was initiated. The study was conducted in parallel where one set was dosed with probiotics (
L. rhamnosus and
S. boulardii). Composition of the gut microbiota was then profiled. Although, the overall population was donor-dependent, there was a clear protective impact of the yeast probiotic towards
L. rhamnosus against antibiotics. Furthermore, the presence of each or both probiotics significantly enhanced abundance of other
Lactobacillaceae,
Bifidobacteriaceae and
Lachnospiraceae. This demonstrated the ability of probiotics to restore, stimulate and strengthen the composition as well as functionality of the microbial community negatively impacted by the use of antibiotics [
153].
Functionality of yeasts as probiotics are not only limited to their use as whole cells therapeutics. A review conducted by Saber et al. [
153], indicated that their metabolic by-products, such as folic acid and β-glucan may have an effect on cancerous cells, by being able to affect pathogenic bacteria, inactivate carcinogenic compounds particularly those derived from food, being able to improve intestinal barrier function, modulate host immune responses, antitoxic functions, apoptosis and anti-proliferative effects [
4].