Abstract
The human microbiome has been identified as having a key role in health and numerous diseases. Trillions of microbial cells and viral particles comprise the microbiome, each representing modifiable working elements of an intricate bioactive ecosystem. The significance of the human microbiome as it relates to human biology has progressed through culture-dependent (for example, media-based methods) and, more recently, molecular (for example, genetic sequencing and metabolomic analysis) techniques. The latter have become increasingly popular and evolved from being used for taxonomic identification of microbiota to elucidation of functional capacity (sequencing) and metabolic activity (metabolomics). This review summarises key elements of the human microbiome and its metabolic capabilities within the context of health and disease.
Highlights
The human microbiome as it relates to metabolic function and health It has been established that communities of microorganisms, microbiota, reside on or within nearly every physical substrate on our planet[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
This review describes essential background to the human microbiome, providing an overview of microbiomes delineated by human anatomy within the framework of microbe–host metabolic interaction before focusing on these interactions as they relate to the gut
Examination of microbiome–host interaction has revealed the integral role of microbiota in health and disease
Summary
The human microbiome as it relates to metabolic function and health It has been established that communities of microorganisms, microbiota, reside on or within nearly every physical substrate on our planet (and associated artificial satellites)[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Whereas some human microbial communities exhibit high levels of diversity when healthy, presenting associations between disease and reduced diversity, the respiratory microbiome is thought to be more susceptible to malignancy when the complexity of its composition increases[25,116,126,128,129]. The gut microbiome of a cohort of professional rugby players, in comparison with age-matched controls with similar body mass index to represent the range of body composition in the athletes, contained greater proportions of metabolic pathways associated with potential health benefits These pathways ranged from those associated with organic cofactor and antibiotic biosynthesis to degradation and biosynthesis of carbohydrates. SCFAs and BAs represent only a small component of the numerous bioactive compounds within the gut environment and considerable additional investigation in this area is needed
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