Sexual Dimorphism in the Gut Microbiome

Abstract

The gut microbiome has received increasing interest in past years due to its link to many diseases and its potential in therapy. One often-overlooked and newer area of research is the sexual dimorphism in the gut microbiome, and how it relates to the sex differences in behavior, diseases, and the underlying makeup between that of males and females. Reviewing the literature has demonstrated that in several organisms, adult males and females do naturally have different compositions of gut microbes. Differences between the sexes in gut microbiome have also been correlated with differences between the sexes in social behavior and various disorders. A thorough understanding of sexual dimorphism in the gut microbiome is crucial to designing better studies, understanding the mechanism of the diseases and behaviors tied to the sexual dimorphism in the microbiome, and fine-tuning more precise treatments that account for the sex of the individual.