Abstract

Trillions of microorganisms with a complex and diverse community are in the human gastrointestinal tract. Gut microbial genomes have much more genes than human genome, thus having a variety of enzymes for many metabolic activities; therefore, gut microbiota is recognized as an “organ” that has essential functions to human health. There are interactions between host and gut microbiome, and there are correlations between gut microbiome in the healthy state and in certain disease states, such as cancer, liver diseases, diabetes, and obesity. Gut microbiota can produce metabolites from nutrients of dietary sources and from drug metabolisms; these metabolites, for example, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), have substantial effects on human health. Drug-microbiome interactions play a crucial role in therapeutic efficiency. Some drugs are able to change compositions of gut microbiota, which can lead to either enhance or reduce therapeutic efficiency. This chapter provides an overview of roles of gut microbiota in human health and diseases and recent research studies on the metabolism or toxicity of drugs and natural products. Since gut bacteria considerably contribute to drug metabolism, research on the influence of gut microbiome on drug candidates (or natural products) should be part of the drug development processes.

Highlights

  • The human gastrointestinal tract has various microorganisms, and “gut microbiota” has received attentions recently because the microbe population living in human intestine has significant effects to human health

  • This study suggests that gut bacteria substantially contribute to drug metabolism in the human gastrointestinal tract, and the metabolism of drug candidates by gut microbiome should be studied as a part of the drug development processes

  • Gut microbiome is very important for human health and diseases, and it is recognized as an “organ” or a “tissue” in the human body

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Summary

Introduction

The human gastrointestinal tract has various microorganisms, and “gut microbiota” has received attentions recently because the microbe population living in human intestine has significant effects to human health. Administration of 5-aminovaleric acid (14) and taurine (15) to mice with autism spectrum disorder could improve repetitive and social behaviors, i.e., modulating neuronal excitability in mice brain and improving behavioral abnormalities [46] This finding suggests that autism spectrum disorder is related to the influence of gut microbiota; microbiome interventions using fecal microbiota transplantation, as well as supplementation with metabolites produced by gut microorganisms or with probiotics, may improve the quality of life for people with autism spectrum disorder. Intestinal microbiota have many important roles in maintenance of human health; perturbation of gut microbiome by antibiotics could give negative impact to human, for example, loss of colonization resistance that can prevent invading microorganisms colonizing in the human gastrointestinal tract [64]. The study on the interactions of gut microbiota and drugs or natural products as part of drug development process is discussed

Interactions of gut microbiome and commonly used drugs
Interactions of gut microbiome and natural products
Findings
Conclusions
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