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Microbiomes in physiology: insights into 21st century global medical challenges

Microbiomes in physiology: insights into 21st century global medical challenges
Microbiomes in physiology: insights into 21st century global medical challenges

New Findings: What is the topic of this review? The role of the gut microbiome in physiology and how it can be targeted as an effective strategy against two of the most important global medical challenges of our time, namely, metabolic diseases and antibacterial resistance. What advances does it highlight? The critical roles of the microbiome in regulating host physiology and how microbiome analysis is useful for disease stratification to enable informed clinical decisions and develop interventions such as faecal microbiota transplantation, prebiotics and probiotics. Also, the limitations of microbiome modulation, including the potential for probiotics to enhance antimicrobial resistance gene reservoirs, and that currently a ‘healthy microbiome’ that can be used as a biobank for transplantation is yet to be defined. Abstract: The human gut microbiome is a key factor in the development of metabolic diseases and antimicrobial resistance, which are among the greatest global medical challenges of the 21st century. A recent symposium aimed to highlight state-of-the-art evidence for the role of the gut microbiome in physiology, from childhood to adulthood, and the impact this has on global disease outcomes, ageing and antimicrobial resistance. Although the gut microbiome is established early in life, over time the microbiome and its components including metabolites can become perturbed due to changes such as dietary habits, use of antibiotics and age. As gut microbial metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids, secondary bile acids and trimethylamine-N-oxide, can interact with host receptors including G protein-coupled receptors and can alter host metabolic fluxes, they can significantly affect physiological homoeostasis leading to metabolic diseases. These metabolites can be used to stratify disease phenotypes such as irritable bowel syndrome and adverse events after heart failure and allow informed decisions on clinical management and treatment. While strategies such as use of probiotics, prebiotics and faecal microbiota transplantation have been proposed as interventions to treat and prevent metabolic diseases and antimicrobial resistance, caution must be exercised, first due to the potential of probiotics to enhance antimicrobial resistance gene reservoirs, and second, a ‘healthy gut microbiome’ that can be used as a biobank for transplantation is yet to be defined. We highlight that sampling other parts of the gastrointestinal tract may produce more representative data than the faecal microbiome alone.

antibiotic resistance, cardiovascular physiology, faecal microbiota transplantation, inflammaging, irritable bowel syndrome, neuroimmunology, probiotics, resistome
0958-0670
257-264
Shehata, Emad
58276cc8-87b4-46b1-8068-d848cd06c502
Parker, A
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Suzuki, Toru
b6378dd3-6b52-46bb-a995-5f532254ed1b
Swann, Jonathan R
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Suez, Jotham
06f3f087-2210-4e85-b525-a8db77442648
Kroon, Paul A
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Day-Walsh, Priscilla
a1d23c7c-8b96-4ffd-a493-ed1aa1445998
Shehata, Emad
58276cc8-87b4-46b1-8068-d848cd06c502
Parker, A
32d2301e-3893-44f7-b872-d798b1965d1a
Suzuki, Toru
b6378dd3-6b52-46bb-a995-5f532254ed1b
Swann, Jonathan R
7c11a66b-f4b8-4dbf-aa17-ad8b0561b85c
Suez, Jotham
06f3f087-2210-4e85-b525-a8db77442648
Kroon, Paul A
ab0504da-dd59-4a11-9256-4a117067b6ea
Day-Walsh, Priscilla
a1d23c7c-8b96-4ffd-a493-ed1aa1445998

Shehata, Emad, Parker, A, Suzuki, Toru, Swann, Jonathan R, Suez, Jotham, Kroon, Paul A and Day-Walsh, Priscilla (2022) Microbiomes in physiology: insights into 21st century global medical challenges. Experimental Physiology, 107 (4), 257-264. (doi:10.1113/EP090226).

Record type: Article

Abstract

New Findings: What is the topic of this review? The role of the gut microbiome in physiology and how it can be targeted as an effective strategy against two of the most important global medical challenges of our time, namely, metabolic diseases and antibacterial resistance. What advances does it highlight? The critical roles of the microbiome in regulating host physiology and how microbiome analysis is useful for disease stratification to enable informed clinical decisions and develop interventions such as faecal microbiota transplantation, prebiotics and probiotics. Also, the limitations of microbiome modulation, including the potential for probiotics to enhance antimicrobial resistance gene reservoirs, and that currently a ‘healthy microbiome’ that can be used as a biobank for transplantation is yet to be defined. Abstract: The human gut microbiome is a key factor in the development of metabolic diseases and antimicrobial resistance, which are among the greatest global medical challenges of the 21st century. A recent symposium aimed to highlight state-of-the-art evidence for the role of the gut microbiome in physiology, from childhood to adulthood, and the impact this has on global disease outcomes, ageing and antimicrobial resistance. Although the gut microbiome is established early in life, over time the microbiome and its components including metabolites can become perturbed due to changes such as dietary habits, use of antibiotics and age. As gut microbial metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids, secondary bile acids and trimethylamine-N-oxide, can interact with host receptors including G protein-coupled receptors and can alter host metabolic fluxes, they can significantly affect physiological homoeostasis leading to metabolic diseases. These metabolites can be used to stratify disease phenotypes such as irritable bowel syndrome and adverse events after heart failure and allow informed decisions on clinical management and treatment. While strategies such as use of probiotics, prebiotics and faecal microbiota transplantation have been proposed as interventions to treat and prevent metabolic diseases and antimicrobial resistance, caution must be exercised, first due to the potential of probiotics to enhance antimicrobial resistance gene reservoirs, and second, a ‘healthy gut microbiome’ that can be used as a biobank for transplantation is yet to be defined. We highlight that sampling other parts of the gastrointestinal tract may produce more representative data than the faecal microbiome alone.

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Experimental Physiology - 2022 - Shehata - Microbiomes in physiology insights into 21st‐century global medical challenges - Version of Record
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 January 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 January 2022
Published date: 1 April 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC); this research was funded by the BBSRC Institute Strategic Programme Food Innovation and Health BB/R012512/1 and its constituent projects BBS/E/F/000PR10343, BBS/E/F/000PR10346 and BBS/E/F/000PR10347. A.P. was funded by the BBSRC Institute Strategic Programme Grant Gut Microbes and Health (BB/R012490/1) and its constituent projects BBS/E/F/000PR10353, BBS/E/F/000PR10355 and BBS/E/F/000PR10356. E.S. was funded by the Newton-Mosharafa Scholarship Fund from the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education (Cultural Affairs and Mission sector), the British Council and the British Embassy in Egypt. T.S. was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (Leicester Biomedical Research Centre) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) UK Consortium on MetAbolic Phenotyping (MAP/UK). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Experimental Physiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society.
Keywords: antibiotic resistance, cardiovascular physiology, faecal microbiota transplantation, inflammaging, irritable bowel syndrome, neuroimmunology, probiotics, resistome

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 455099
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/455099
ISSN: 0958-0670
PURE UUID: 531b19b7-9f11-436a-b696-9461dce63e5d
ORCID for Jonathan R Swann: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6485-4529

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Date deposited: 09 Mar 2022 17:35
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:00

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Contributors

Author: Emad Shehata
Author: A Parker
Author: Toru Suzuki
Author: Jotham Suez
Author: Paul A Kroon
Author: Priscilla Day-Walsh

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