A scoping review of the critical aspects of plant-based dietary interventions and their effects on the human gut microbiota composition.

BACKGROUND

dietary interventions represent one of the most effective strategies for modulating the composition of the human gut microbiome and plant-based diets (PBD) have demonstrated their influence based on cross-sectional descriptive studies. However, evidence from interventional studies has not been fully substantiated.

OBJECTIVE

to identify and characterize the effects of plant-based dietary interventions on the composition of the human intestinal microbiome.

METHODS

a literature search was conducted in the Scopus and PubMed databases for all studies published to date that have investigated plant-based dietary interventions and assessed their effects on the composition of the human intestinal microbiome. The revision was conducted according to the established protocols for scoping reviews by Peters et al. and the PRISMA-ScR guidelines.

RESULTS

eighteen studies were included, encompassing a wide range of plant based dietary patterns, intervention duration, study population and microbiome assessment methods. While several studies reported changes in specific microbial taxa or diversity, findings were highly heterogeneous and varied according to baseline participant characteristics, dietary definitions and methodological approaches.

CONCLUSIONS

the studies assessing the effect of plant-based dietary interventions on the composition of the human gut microbiome are still limited and employ a diversity of methods that do not allow definitive conclusions regarding the consistency or clinical relevance of reported microbiome changes. This scoping review highlights important methodological and conceptual gaps, underscoring the need for more standardised research to clarify the role of plant-based dietary patterns in gut microbiome modulation across different health contexts.