Various types of synbiotic therapies are provided for the treatment of a variety of gastrointestinal and other disorders. The combination of prebiotics to probiotics is defined as a synbiotic therapy. The principal GI disorders associated with dysbiosis that can be treated from such a therapeutic intervention include but are not limited to: inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), antibiotic-associated diarrheas such as recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, and possibly variants of Celiac disease. Other disorders that may also be ameliorated by the proposed synbiotic therapy include metabolic syndromes and central nervous system disorders. The disclosed methods and compositions were developed to improve upon currently available probiotics through consideration of the human intestinal microbiota, and its relationship to various intestinal metabolic and neuropsychiatric disorders. In one embodiment, the disclosed synbiotic compositions include prebiotics and a targeted delivery system, which altogether promote the survival, growth, and attachment of probiotic microbiota.
