Microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, and host cells, such as plants and
animals, have carbohydrate chains and lectins that reciprocally recognize one another. In hosts,
the defense system is activated upon non-self-pattern recognition of microbial pathogen-associated
molecular patterns. These are present in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and fungi.
Glycan-based PAMPs are bound to a class of lectins that are widely distributed among eukaryotes.
The first step of bacterial infection in humans is the adhesion of the pathogen’s lectin-like proteins to
the outer membrane surfaces of host cells, which are composed of glycans. Microbes and hosts binding
to each other specifically is of critical importance. The adhesion factors used between pathogens and
hosts remain unknown; therefore, research is needed to identify these factors to prevent intestinal
infection or treat it in its early stages. This review aims to present a vision for the prevention and
treatment of infectious diseases by identifying the role of the host glycans in the immune response
against pathogenic intestinal bacteria through studies on the lectin-glycan interaction.