Gut Microbiome
Series edited by Martin Blaser
The human gastrointestinal tract harbors approximately one hundred trillion microbial cells, collectively known as the gut microbiome. We have been aware of these friendly bacteria for around a century, but we are only now beginning to appreciate their influence in multiple aspects of human physiology and disease. Our understanding of the gut microbiome is constantly evolving and is currently being aided by new technologies and approaches that combine ecological principles with biomedical techniques. These new studies take into account both the pathological and commensal aspects of the microbes that inhabit our bodies. Reviews in this series explore how perturbation of the microbiome not only contributes to disease, but also helps to reveal its function; the impact of the microbiome on the metabolism of therapeutics and dietary nutrients; the contributions of commensal bacteria to disease, including cancer and cardiovascular disease; and the role of the microbiome in the development and maintenance of the immune system.
Articles in series
Abstract
The collection of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in and on the human body, collectively known as the microbiome, has recently emerged as an important factor in human physiology and disease. The gut in particular is a biological niche that is home to a diverse array of microbes that influence nearly all aspects of human biology through their interactions with their host; new technologies are beginning to reveal important aspects of host-microbe interactions. Articles in this Review series address how perturbations of the microbiota, such as through antibiotic use, influence its overall structure and function; how our microbiome influences the impact of infectious agents, such as
Authors
Martin J. Blaser
Abstract
The human body comprises fewer host cells than bacterial cells, most of which are obligate anaerobes residing in the gut. The symbiont
Authors
Cynthia L. Sears, Abby L. Geis, Franck Housseau
Abstract
Our associated microbial communities play a critical role in human health and predisposition to disease, but the degree to which they also shape therapeutic interventions is not well understood. Here, we integrate results from classic and current studies of the direct and indirect impacts of the gut microbiome on the metabolism of therapeutic drugs and diet-derived bioactive compounds. We pay particular attention to microbial influences on host responses to xenobiotics, adding to the growing consensus that treatment outcomes reflect our intimate partnership with the microbial world, and providing an initial framework from which to consider a more comprehensive view of pharmacology and nutrition.
Authors
Rachel N. Carmody, Peter J. Turnbaugh
Abstract
Authors
Anna M. Seekatz, Vincent B. Young
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic, progressive diseases characterized by aberrant immune responses to environmental and gut microbial triggers in genetically susceptible hosts. Clinical, genetic, and experimental data support the role of gut microbes in causing and sustaining these diseases. Our understanding of IBD has changed dramatically as the result of advances in cultivation-independent approaches and computational platforms for the analysis of large data sets. However, investigations relevant to clinical observations and the natural history of the diseases will be essential for the development of microbial, genetic, and biological metrics that may be used to individualize assessment of risk and improve clinical outcomes in IBD.
Authors
Sushila R. Dalal, Eugene B. Chang
Abstract
The past decade has witnessed an explosion in studies — both clinical and basic science — examining the relationship between the microbiota and human health, and it is now clear that the effects of commensal organisms are much broader than previously believed. Among the microbiota’s major contributions to host physiology is regulation of the development and maintenance of the immune system. There are now a handful of examples of intestinal commensal bacteria with defined immunomodulatory properties, but our mechanistic understanding of how microbes influence the immune system is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, several themes have emerged that provide a framework for appreciating microbe-induced immunoregulation. In this Review, we discuss the current state of knowledge regarding the role of the intestinal microbiota in immunologic development, highlighting mechanistic principles that can guide future work.
Authors
Neeraj K. Surana, Dennis L. Kasper
Abstract
Our group recently discovered that certain dietary nutrients possessing a trimethylamine (TMA) moiety, namely choline/phosphatidylcholine and L-carnitine, participate in the development of atherosclerotic heart disease. A meta-organismal pathway was elucidated involving gut microbiota–dependent formation of TMA and host hepatic flavin monooxygenase 3–dependent (FMO3-dependent) formation of TMA–N-oxide (TMAO), a metabolite shown to be both mechanistically linked to atherosclerosis and whose levels are strongly linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks. Collectively, these studies reveal that nutrient precursors, gut microbiota, and host participants along the meta-organismal pathway elucidated may serve as new targets for the prevention and treatment of CVD.
Authors
W.H. Wilson Tang, Stanley L. Hazen
Abstract
Antibiotics have been a cornerstone of innovation in the fields of public health, agriculture, and medicine. However, recent studies have shed new light on the collateral damage they impart on the indigenous host-associated communities. These drugs have been found to alter the taxonomic, genomic, and functional capacity of the human gut microbiota, with effects that are rapid and sometimes persistent. Broad-spectrum antibiotics reduce bacterial diversity while expanding and collapsing membership of specific indigenous taxa. Furthermore, antibiotic treatment selects for resistant bacteria, increases opportunities for horizontal gene transfer, and enables intrusion of pathogenic organisms through depletion of occupied natural niches, with profound implications for the emergence of resistance. Because these pervasive alterations can be viewed as an uncoupling of mutualistic host-microbe relationships, it is valuable to reconsider antimicrobial therapies in the context of an ecological framework. Understanding the biology of competitive exclusion, interspecies protection, and gene flow of adaptive functions in the gut environment may inform the design of new strategies that treat infections while preserving the ecology of our beneficial constituents.
Authors
Sheetal R. Modi, James J. Collins, David A. Relman
Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)