Abstract
Recently, metagenomics and metabolomics are the two most rapidly advancing “omics” technologies. Metagenomics seeks to characterize the composition of microbial communities, their operations, and their dynamically co-evolving relationships with the habitats they occupy, whereas metabolomics studies unique chemical endpoints (metabolites) that specific cellular processes leave behind. Remarkable progress in DNA sequencing and mass spectrometry technologies has enabled the comprehensive collection of information on the gut microbiome and its metabolome in order to assess the influence of the gut microbiota on host physiology on a whole-systems level. Our gut microbiota, which consists of prokaryotic cells together with its metabolites, creates a unique gut ecosystem together with the host eukaryotic cells. In this review, we will highlight the detailed relationships between gut microbiota and its metabolites on host health and the pathogenesis of various intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Therapeutic interventions such as probiotic and prebiotic administrations and fecal microbiota transplantations will also be discussed. We would like to promote this unique biology-wide approach of incorporating metagenome and metabolome information as we believe that this can help us understand the intricate interplay between gut microbiota and host metabolism to a greater extent. This novel integration of microbiome, metatranscriptome, and metabolome information will help us have an improved holistic understanding of the complex mammalian superorganism, thereby allowing us to gain new and unprecedented insights to providing exciting novel therapeutic approaches for optimal intestinal health.
Highlights
Metagenomics and metabolomics are the two most rapidly advancing “omics” technologies
There are many reports that have reviewed the potential roles of particular strains of pathogenic bacteria in promoting colorectal cancer (CRC) via pro-inflammatory interactions with host cells [25,29,31], it is progressively clear that the cumulative activities of the gut microbiota and their metabolic products significantly influence pathogenesis and protection against CRC [25,27,29,31,32]
The viromes of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients were disease- and cohort-specific and gut virome diversity was not secondary to changes in the gut microbial community. These data support a model in which changes in the virome may contribute to intestinal inflammation and bacterial dysbiosis, which allows for speculation about whether bacterial microbiome changes in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are secondary to changes in the emergence of bacteriophages or the introduction of bacteriophages from lifestyle interventions [39]
Summary
The gut microbiota refers to all the microorganisms inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract. The gut microbiota is dominated by Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria, and these phyla have been reported to play an important role in shaping host metabolism and physiology [1]. According to the dietary lifestyle and nutritional status of the host, gut microbiota communities vary in composition along the digestive tract and evolve within and between individuals over time [4]. In addition to the gut microbiota’s obvious role in digestion, it plays a part in maintaining optimal host health but it is involved the etiopathogenesis of various metabolic diseases such as obesity [5,6,7], diabetes [1,8,9]; intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) [10], colorectal cancer (CRC) [11]; and extraintestinal diseases such as allergies [12], multiple sclerosis [13], chronic kidney disease [9], atherosclerosis [14,15], and autism [16]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call