Abstract
The human gut microbiome can be easily disturbed upon exposure to a range of toxic environmental agents. Environmentally induced perturbation in the gut microbiome is strongly associated with human disease risk. Functional gut microbiome alterations that may adversely influence human health is an increasingly appreciated mechanism by which environmental chemicals exert their toxic effects. In this review, we define the functional damage driven by environmental exposure in the gut microbiome as gut microbiome toxicity. The establishment of gut microbiome toxicity links the toxic effects of various environmental agents and microbiota-associated diseases, calling for more comprehensive toxicity evaluation with extended consideration of gut microbiome toxicity.
Highlights
The human gut microbiome including the microorganisms, their genomes, and the surrounding environment in the gut, has received unprecedented attention over the past decade [1]
We focus on recent studies in support of the establishment of gut microbiome toxicity, and we discuss the environmental exposures, metabolic interactions in human disease, biomarkers and assessment, and modulation (Figure 1)
Follow-up studies evaluating arsenic metabolism further demonstrated that arsenic-induced gut microbiome toxicity can be affected by factors including host genetics [48], gender [49], and bacterial infection [50]
Summary
The human gut microbiome including the microorganisms, their genomes, and the surrounding environment in the gut, has received unprecedented attention over the past decade [1]. Considering the potential involvement of the gut microbiome in human disease, it is imperative to integrate gut microbiome toxicity into the toxicity assessment of environmental exposure. We focus on recent studies in support of the establishment of gut microbiome toxicity, and we discuss the environmental exposures, metabolic interactions in human disease, biomarkers and assessment, and modulation (Figure 1). We review recent studies demonstrating the functional perturbation in the gut microbiome driven by various xenobiotics such as antibiotics, heavy metals, pesticides, and artificial sweeteners These functional changes include, but are not limited to, alterations in the bacterial production of metabolites, diversity loss in the bacterial community, and interference in energy metabolism, which are further linked to the development of gut microbiota-related diseases. We briefly summarize current approaches for the assessment of gut microbiome toxicity as well as effective gut microbiome modulation
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