| Summary: | The main function of the Immune System
(IS) in metazoans is to protect them against invading
microorganisms, which are considered from this
perspective as competitors that reduce the availability of
resources, cause tissue damage and essentially threaten
their adaptability. This relationship is seen as a low
intensity perpetual armed war, related to the hypothesis of
the “Red Queen”. This view suggests that the metazoans’
IS has evolved under a selective pressure imposed
by microorganisms of the microbiota, that whether
infectious or not, have co-evolved with the host’s IS in an
evolutionary symbiogenesis, with reciprocal interactions
that have developed local immunity. The microbiota
changes with age and communicates with the brain.
The above mentioned implies that we are witnessing
the birth of a new scientific discipline that could
be termed microbial anthropology, and several
perspectives that includes the change of our perception
of health and established the fundamentals for the use of
microorganisms as therapeutic agents. In order for these
therapies to succeed considerable information must be
available about our microbiota, such as changes during
pregnancy, the effects of antibiotic use, new methods for
in vitro cultivation and the host-commensal dynamics.
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