The fact that a person lives in symbiosis with certain types of bacteria and viruses is probably known to everyone who is at least a little interested in their health.. But not everyone understands how important our relationship with the microorganisms that inhabit our intestines and some other organs is.. Let's take a look at a few clear and extremely interesting facts:.

Our body consists of about 7-7.5 trillion cells and they can be divided into about 200 different types (nerve, muscle, epithelial, etc.)..

But the bacteria that live in our body, there are already tens of trillions.! And in terms of species diversity, they are noticeably in the lead - this figure is about 10,000.

Also, don't forget about viruses.. In terms of species diversity, they are somewhat inferior to bacteria: only about 1200 types of viruses live in us.. But the estimated number of viruses in our body exceeds a quadrillion!

An unexpected and very funny conclusion follows from this: if we consider a person as a kind of symbiotic form of the existence of life, then in terms of the total number of cells, we are rather nuclear-free organisms :) Well, jokes are jokes, but all this is a huge number of viruses and bacteria, which in. The question is exactly how? And medical science has already given the answer: with the help of a variety of biologically active substances. That is, by chemical means, producing certain molecules.

Around the beginning of the 21st century, when the rapid growth of biotechnology began, scientists thought: why not try to isolate these compounds and use them to influence certain processes in the human body? That is, in fact, to exclude the microorganisms themselves from this chain of interactions. Doctors-researchers tried and they succeeded! This is how a new class of active substances was created, called metabiotics.. The prefix "

Why do we need these drugs? The delicate balance of our internal microflora can be destroyed by many factors:.

aging of the body (dysbiotic conditions are a common problem for people over the age of 60);

long-term use of antibiotics, which successfully destroy both dangerous bacteria and \;

treatment with hormones, antihistamines and antidepressants;

almost every disease of the gastrointestinal tract;

eating disorders, its abrupt changes, as well as starvation;

stressful situations (especially chronic!

immunodeficiency states;

chronic intoxication, including due to the frequent use of alcohol;

adverse environmental factors;

sleep and wakefulness disturbances.

What threatens us with the destruction of the microbiota? First of all, the result is, of course, disruption of the digestive system.. A variety of pathologies can occur in it, ranging from diarrhea for a couple of days to such serious chronic diseases as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease.. In addition, a long-term deficiency of substances that are produced by our microflora will certainly affect the state of the whole organism.. For example, dysbiotic disorders are considered one of the causes of obesity, a number of allergic lesions, and chronic fatigue syndrome.. Finally, the appearance of our nails, hair and skin largely depends on the well-being of the microbiota..

Why such difficulties with the development of a new class of drugs? legitimate question. It would seem that there are microorganisms that successfully work in our body. If they died, there are a number of traditional drugs that are designed to restore their number.. So why complicate everything and mess with their laboratory breeding, and then filtering the products of their metabolism?

The fact is that metabiotics have several extremely significant advantages:.

We can study the structure and composition of each specific molecule included in the metabiotic in the laboratory. So, we can say exactly what biological effects it will have..

Considering the previous paragraph, it is easy to conclude that we can control the composition of the resulting drug with high reliability.. And change it, adjusting it to the needs that a particular person experiences..

Finally, knowledge of the composition allows much more accurate dosing of the drug..

Metabiotics are not living organisms, but a collection of chemicals. Accordingly, they have a much longer shelf life and shelf life..

Dysbacteriosis is a common complication of antibiotic treatment.. But live bacteria cannot be used at this moment - antibiotics will simply destroy them.. But metabolic drugs are not afraid of simultaneous use with antibiotic therapy.

Metabiotics begin to act immediately after ingestion. They are already completely ready to begin to be absorbed into the tissues, and are distributed over them much more evenly..

Bacteria live primarily in our intestines. But in order to get into it, they have to pass through the acidic environment of the stomach.. A number of studies have shown that no more than 0.01% of them survive.. Metabiotics are not afraid of increased acidity of gastric juice and up to 97% of such substances enter the intestine unchanged..

Taking metabiotics has practically no contraindications. They are perfectly tolerated by people of any age, pregnant women and even infants..

Why not use traditional drugs? Before the advent of metabiotics, disturbances in the microflora of the intestines and other organs were corrected by taking pre- and probiotics..

Prebiotics are those compounds that are required for the active growth of microbiota in the human body.. The logic of their use is clear: they create a nutrient medium, favorable conditions for the reproduction of symbiotic bacteria.. But their action is completely indiscriminate.. That is, if there are both “beneficial” and “harmful” (pathogenic) bacteria in the intestines, then both of them will equally successfully grow on the substrate of prebiotic preparations.. And besides, if the gut microbiota has died (say, under the influence of antibiotic therapy), then prebiotics simply have nothing to stimulate..

Probiotics are a more complex class of drugs. This, in fact, is the very “beneficial” bacteria, only in dried form.. Once in the warm and humid environment of our body, they come to life and begin to work.. Good? Good? Solution of the problem? But not quite.

The effectiveness of probiotics has been questioned by more and more researchers in recent years, and here's why:.

Unlike the ease of dosing of metabiotics, the number of bacteria needed by a particular person cannot be determined..

As we said above, probiotics cannot be taken against the background of antibiotic therapy, and in addition, almost all bacteria die in the hydrochloric acid of the stomach, simply not reaching the intestines..

Often you can find probiotics containing microorganisms of the genera Enterococcus, Streptococcus, Escherichia, Bacillus, Bacteroides. These are the so-called conditionally pathogenic bacteria.. Our body needs them, but in very small quantities, because with an increase in their number, they can cause serious diseases..

And as we said, dosing probiotics is extremely difficult..

Doubts about the effectiveness of probiotics are already so strong today that government agencies are already responding to them.. So, in 2012, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) banned the publication of information on the labels of products with probiotics that they have any therapeutic effect.. And in 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) followed suit..

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