The importance of human gut microbiome Abstract: The microorganisms residing in gastrointestinal tract is known as gut microbiome. Gut microbiome has an intimate symbiotic relationship with human health. More than 90% of phylogenetic types of bacteria in colon belong to 2 out of 70 known phyla in the domain Bacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The gut microbiota contributes to the metabolism and nutrition which are essential for human health and therefore, a balance in the composition of these commensal organisms is crucial to maintain the homeostasis. They also, secrete bioactive compounds necessary for human growth and development. Frequent or uncontrolled use of antibiotics, chemotherapeutic drugs and change in dietary pattern have shown to disrupt the microbiome, leading to disturbance in microbiota or dysbiosis characterized with an imbalance of life-supportive microbes. The gut microbiome also strongly interacts with certain drugs, including some mental-health therapeutics and influences their modulation. The gut microbiome can help predict the diseases and suggest personalized treatments. Hence, the research on gut microbiome can open new possibilities in host factors affecting the pattern of microbiota, immune response, effect of drugs, diagnostics, treatments, ageing, etc. Keywords: Gut microbiota, nutrition, homeostasis, dysbiosis Introduction: The human microbiome is composed of archea, bacteria, viruses and fungi and their genes in a particular environment. The number of bacterial cells inhabiting the GI tract is almost equal to the total number of cells in the human body and their genomic content is approximately 10 times more than the human genome. The NGS technologies like, 16s rRNA, shotgun sequencing; feces, intestinal fluids, etc. samples collected to decode the microbial communities and metagenomic analysis using bioinformatics tools. Normal gut microbiota comprises mostly several genera of Gram positive Firmicutes and many different Gram negative Bacteroidetes like Bacteroides, Prevotella, Parabacteroides and Alistipes. The diversity of gut microbiome •
•
The benefits of gut microbiota to the host: • The gut microbiota strengthens the gut integrity. • It resists perturbation and maintains a balanced state. • It protects from virulent pathogenic organisms. • Helps in food metabolism. • Regulates innate immunity. • Communicates with brain through vagus nerve by endocrine and immune pathways.
The diet and nutrition
•
•
Fat
Fibre
Protein
Carbohydrate
The prebiotics and probiotics may help keep the gut microbiota healthy. Dietary timings play an important role too.
The intake of fast food, processed food and animal based diets releases compounds, emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners which breakdown the mucus layer on epithelial cells and causes inflammation. The dysbiosis in the gut causes inflammation and triggers immune response to protect and maintain the stability or leading to other diseases and infections. Advancements due to gut microbiota: • Early prognosis and treatment of the diseases. • Effect of antibiotic drugs on the host cells. • Designing personalized diet and medicines. • Prediction of diseases.
Areas of research: • The interaction between the microbiomehost-environment. • Identifying the immune pathway induced by the gut microbiota. • Building databases for better diagnostics. • Supplements used to recover certain microbiota after perturbation. • Developing alternatives to antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents. • Investigating more bioactive compounds and their activity. Conclusion: The human gut microbiome is an essential part of our body as an organ and cannot live without. Consumption of right nutrition at right time helps maintain the microbiota. The healthy microbiota has done wonders. The gut microbiome holds the future in advancements in diagnostics and treatment without antibiotics. Main references: • • • •
• • •
Appanna, V.D. 2018. Dysbiosis, Probiotics, and Prebiotics: In Diseases and Health. Human Microbes The Power Within. Springer. Brody,H. 2020. The gut microbiome. Nat, 577. Chang,CS, Kao,CY. 2019. Current understanding of the gut microbiota shaping mechanisms. J Biomed Sci, 26:59. Milani, C, etal. 2017. The First Microbial Colonizers of the Human Gut: Composition, Activities, and Health Implications of the Infant Gut Microbiota. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 81:4. Vernocchi,P, etal. 2020. Gut Microbiota Metabolism and Interaction with Food Components. Int J Mol Sci 21:10. Dr. Rhonda Patrick, How the gut microbiome microbiota affects our health, Youtube. Microbiome course, Biotecnika.