Figure 1:

Leaky gut syndrome. During a healthy state, there is a diverse gut microbial community (microbiome) which helps in maintaining the homeostasis at mucosal surfaces. Beneficial bacteria metabolize dietary components such as diet-containing fiber and/or phytoestrogens into health-promoting metabolites such as short chain fatty acids and equol. These beneficial metabolites help in creating tolerogenic immune environment by maintaining a balance between anti-inflammatory regulatory T cells and proinflammatory T-helper 17 cells