Role of probiotics and prebiotics in immunomodulation

In the last decade, a remarkable progress has been observed in the field of preventive medicine. Studies have identified nutrition as a major modifiable determinant playing a role in health promotion and chronic diseases prevention. Functional foods provide additional benefits over their basic nutritional value, contributing to the prevention and reduction of risk factors for different diseases or boosting multiple physiological functions. About the immune system, several researches have demonstrated the role of functional foods in the improvement of immunocompetence. In this review, we discuss the immunomodulatory effects of specific functional foods: probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics. We focused on the mechanisms by which they mediate their disparate effects. Thus, we reviewed the last 5 years of studies covering mainly their beneficial effect on intestinal microbiota, the modulation of the functional properties of the microbiota, epithelial cells, dendritic cells and diverse immune cell types (lymphocytes TH1, TH17, Treg, LB, natural killers, and so on) and the regulation of cytokines production.