Interaction between Dietary Lactoferrin and Gut Microbiota in Host Health

The gut microbiota are known to play an important role in host health and disease. Alterations in the gut microbiota composition can disrupt the stability of the gut ecosystem, which may result in noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCCDs). Remodeling the gut microbiota through personalized nutrition is a novel therapeutic avenue for both disease control and prevention. However, whether there are commonly used gut microbiota-targeted diets and how gut microbiota–diet interactions combat NCCDs and improve health remain questions to be addressed. Lactoferrin (LF), which is broadly used in dietary supplements, acts not only as an antimicrobial in the defense against enteropathogenic bacteria but also as a prebiotic to propagate certain probiotics. Thus, LF-induced gut microbiota alterations can be harnessed to induce changes in host physiology, and the underpinnings of their relationships and mechanisms are beginning to unravel in studies involving humans and animal models.