Abstract
The gut microbiota exists throughout the full life cycle of the human body, and it has been proven to have extensive impacts on health and disease. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that the interplay between gut microbiota and host epigenetics plays a multifaceted role in health maintenance and disease prevention. Intestinal microflora, along with their metabolites, could regulate multiple epigenetic pathways; e.g., DNA methylation, miRNA, or histone modification. Moreover, epigenetic factors can serve as mediators to coordinate gut microbiota within the host. Aiming to dissect this interplay mechanism, the present review summarizes the research profile of gut microbiota and epigenetics in detail, and further interprets the biofunctions of this interplay, especially the regulation of intestinal inflammation, the improvement of metabolic disturbances, and the inhibition of colitis events. This review provides new insights into the interplay of epigenetics and gut microbiota, and attempts to reveal the mysteries of health maintenance and disease prevention from this new perspective.
Highlights
Microbiota are ecological communities of commensal microorganisms that typically inhabit a particular environment
Several microbial species, including members of the Firmicutes genus, showed a significant difference in abundance between wild-type and Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2)−/− animals. These results suggest that alterations in mucosal microbial composition caused by TLR2 deletion may lead to alterations in epigenetic modification [74]
The interplay between gut microbiota and epigenetic mechanisms is of great significance for disease prevention and for unveiling the truth of disease
Summary
Microbiota are ecological communities of commensal microorganisms that typically inhabit a particular environment. Trillions of microorganisms live in the enteric canal, forming a complex symbiotic ecosystem with the host [3,4] It is still unclear whether gut microbiota begin to colonize the human body before or after birth [5,6]. The regulation of gut microbiota by the host can affect the response to physiological stimuli and the process of disease development, which is a promising new field because of its potential biomedical significance. Aiming to dissect this interplay mechanism, the present review will interpret the research profile of gut microbiota and epigenetics in detail. These host epigenetic modifications play an intermediary role in intestinal homeostasis, inflammatory regulation, and metabolic disorders, and provide a basis for maintaining the intestinal commensal system
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