Understanding the role of gut microbiome–host metabolic signal disruption in health and disease

• Published in: Trends in microbiology (Regular ed.) Vol. 19; no. 7; pp. 349 - 359
• Main Authors: Holmes, Elaine, Li, Jia V, Athanasiou, Thanos, Ashrafian, Hutan, Nicholson, Jeremy K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-07-2011
• Subjects: Animals; Bacteria - growth & development; Bacteria - pathogenicity; digestive system; Disease Models, Animal; drugs; Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology; Health; health promotion; Humans; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - microbiology; Internal Medicine; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Mass Spectrometry; Metabolic Diseases - microbiology; Metabolome; metabolomics; Metagenome; microbiome; Models, Theoretical; Nervous System Diseases - microbiology; Obesity - metabolism; Obesity - microbiology; Phenotype; Signal Transduction; Symbiosis
• ISSN: 0966-842X; 1878-4380
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2011.05.006

There is growing awareness of the importance of the gut microbiome in health and disease, and recognition that the microbe to host metabolic signalling is crucial to understanding the mechanistic basis of their interaction. This opens new avenues of research for advancing knowledge on the aetiopathologic consequences of dysbiosis with potential for identifying novel microbially-related drug targets. Advances in both sequencing technologies and metabolic profiling platforms, coupled with mathematical integration approaches, herald a new era in characterizing the role of the microbiome in metabolic signalling within the host and have far reaching implications in promoting health in both the developed and developing world.