Gut Microbiome: Current Status and Future Perspectives

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2024 | Viewed by 10704

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Science, Institute of Biology and Ecology, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, 041 54 Kosice, Slovakia
Interests: immunology; IBD; colon cancer; gut–brain axis; cancer microenvironment; in vivo studies; probiotics

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Guest Editor
Norwegian PSC Research Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Interests: immunology; colorectal cancer; primary sclerosing cholangitis; gut–liver axis; in vivo studies

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Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, 041 81 Kosice, Slovakia
Interests: immunology; gut microbiota; probiotics; immunomodulation; animal models; cell cultures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gut microbiota are now considered as one of the key elements contributing to the regulation of host health. Because of the development of molecular tools and techniques, the complex interactions between the host and the different microorganisms are progressively being deciphered. Gut microbiota deviations are linked with many diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, hepatic steatosis, intestinal bowel diseases (IBDs) and several types of cancer. Thus, this suggests that various pathways involved in immunity and the energy, lipid and glucose metabolisms are affected. Moreover, scientists have identified that the gut microbiome contributes not only to the health and diseases of the gut itself, but also to those remote extra-enteric organs such as the liver, brain, skin, heart, muscle and bone via a bidirectional signaling process. With the rapid development of gut microbiome research and the increase in up-to-date knowledge, the monitoring of the host microbiome has become an emerging area of diagnostics for personalized medicine. We believe that the advances in our understanding of the gut microbiota will greatly transform our way of life in the next decade. I invite colleagues and health professionals in basic, clinical and field research to submit their manuscripts to this Special Issue in the form of original research studies and reviews.

Dr. Vlasta Demeckova
Dr. Petra Hradicka
Dr. Dagmar Mudronova
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • gut microbiome
  • microbiota
  • dysbiosis
  • gut–brain axis
  • microbiota-targeted therapies
  • biomarkers

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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8 pages, 1169 KiB  
Article
Differences in Gut Microbiome Profile between Healthy Children and Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and/or Autoimmune Liver Disease: A Case-Control Study
by Robert N. Lopez, Steven T. Leach, Nerissa Bowcock, Elise Coker, Amanda J. Shapiro, Andrew S. Day and Daniel A. Lemberg
Pathogens 2023, 12(4), 585; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040585 - 12 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1693
Abstract
Background: The role of gastrointestinal microbiome in health and disease is increasingly appreciated. A significant amount of evidence clearly points to a dysbiosis manifest in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) when compared to healthy controls. Less understood is the microbiome profile in autoimmune liver [...] Read more.
Background: The role of gastrointestinal microbiome in health and disease is increasingly appreciated. A significant amount of evidence clearly points to a dysbiosis manifest in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) when compared to healthy controls. Less understood is the microbiome profile in autoimmune liver disease (AILD). Both adult and paediatric data indicate a distinct microbial signature in patients with IBD and co-existent primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), which is unique and different compared to the microbial signature that exists in patients with IBD alone. However, there is limited information on the microbiome make-up of patients with parenchymal liver disease, with or without IBD. Methods: The present study sought to compare the microbiome of children with IBD, to those with IBD-AILD, those with AILD alone and those of healthy controls. Results: Results from this work indicate that children with AILD have a microbiome profile that mirrors healthy controls. Conclusion: Those with IBD-AILD and IBD have similar microbiome profiles which are distinct from AILD alone and healthy controls. This suggests that the dysbiosis in these groups is primarily due to IBD rather than AILD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiome: Current Status and Future Perspectives)
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Review

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22 pages, 2920 KiB  
Review
Gastric Cancer, Immunotherapy, and Nutrition: The Role of Microbiota
by Pauline Raoul, Valeria De Gaetano, Gianmario Sciaraffia, Ginevra Ormea, Marco Cintoni, Carmelo Pozzo, Antonia Strippoli, Antonio Gasbarrini, Maria Cristina Mele and Emanuele Rinninella
Pathogens 2024, 13(5), 357; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13050357 - 26 Apr 2024
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Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have revolutionized the treatment of gastric cancer (GC), which still represents the third leading cause of cancer-related death in Western countries. However, ICI treatment outcomes vary between individuals and need to be optimized. Recent studies have shown that gut [...] Read more.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have revolutionized the treatment of gastric cancer (GC), which still represents the third leading cause of cancer-related death in Western countries. However, ICI treatment outcomes vary between individuals and need to be optimized. Recent studies have shown that gut microbiota could represent a key influencer of immunotherapy responses. At the same time, the nutritional status and diet of GC patients are also predictive of immunotherapy treatment response and survival outcomes. The objective of this narrative review is to gather recent findings about the complex relationships between the oral, gastric, and gut bacterial communities, dietary factors/nutritional parameters, and immunotherapy responses. Perigastric/gut microbiota compositions/functions and their metabolites could be predictive of response to immunotherapy in GC patients and even overall survival. At the same time, the strong influence of diet on the composition of the microbiota could have consequences on immunotherapy responses through the impact of muscle mass in GC patients during immunotherapy. Future studies are needed to define more precisely the dietary factors, such as adequate daily intake of prebiotics, that could counteract the dysbiosis of the GC microbiota and the impaired nutritional status, improving the clinical outcomes of GC patients during immunotherapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiome: Current Status and Future Perspectives)
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30 pages, 1352 KiB  
Review
The Potential of Probiotics as Ingestible Adjuvants and Immune Modulators for Antiviral Immunity and Management of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19
by Sophie Tomkinson, Cloe Triscott, Emily Schenk and Andrew Foey
Pathogens 2023, 12(7), 928; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12070928 - 11 Jul 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3978
Abstract
Probiotic bacteria are able to modulate general antiviral responsiveness, including barrier functionality and innate and adaptive immune responses. The COVID-19 pandemic, resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection, has created a need to control and treat this viral infection and its ensuing immunopathology with a variety [...] Read more.
Probiotic bacteria are able to modulate general antiviral responsiveness, including barrier functionality and innate and adaptive immune responses. The COVID-19 pandemic, resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection, has created a need to control and treat this viral infection and its ensuing immunopathology with a variety of approaches; one such approach may involve the administration of probiotic bacteria. As with most viral infections, its pathological responses are not fully driven by the virus, but are significantly contributed to by the host’s immune response to viral infection. The potential adoption of probiotics in the treatment of COVID-19 will have to appreciate the fine line between inducing antiviral immunity without over-provoking immune inflammatory responses resulting in host-derived immunopathological tissue damage. Additionally, the effect exerted on the immune system by SARS-CoV-2 evasion strategies will also have to be considered when developing a robust response to this virus. This review will introduce the immunopathology of COVID-19 and the immunomodulatory effects of probiotic strains, and through their effects on a range of respiratory pathogens (IAV, SARS-CoV, RSV), as well as SARS-CoV-2, will culminate in a focus on how these bacteria can potentially manipulate both infectivity and immune responsiveness via barrier functionality and both innate and adaptive immunity. In conclusion, the harnessing of induction and augmentation of antiviral immunity via probiotics may not only act as an ingestible adjuvant, boosting immune responsiveness to SARS-CoV-2 infection at the level of barrier integrity and innate and adaptive immunity, but also act prophylactically to prevent infection and enhance protection afforded by current vaccine regimens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiome: Current Status and Future Perspectives)
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13 pages, 305 KiB  
Review
Familial Hypercholesterolemia and Acute Coronary Syndromes: The Microbiota–Immunity Axis in the New Diagnostic and Prognostic Frontiers
by Andrea Piccioni, Elena Niccolai, Gloria Rozzi, Giacomo Spaziani, Christian Zanza, Marcello Candelli, Marcello Covino, Antonio Gasbarrini, Francesco Franceschi and Amedeo Amedei
Pathogens 2023, 12(4), 627; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040627 - 21 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2442
Abstract
Familial hypercholesterolemia is a common genetic disorder with a propensity towards early onset of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). The main goal of therapy is to reduce the LDL cholesterol and the current treatment generally consists of statin, ezetimibe and PCSK9 inhibitors. Unfortunately, lowering [...] Read more.
Familial hypercholesterolemia is a common genetic disorder with a propensity towards early onset of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). The main goal of therapy is to reduce the LDL cholesterol and the current treatment generally consists of statin, ezetimibe and PCSK9 inhibitors. Unfortunately, lowering LDL cholesterol may be difficult for many reasons such as the variation of response to statin therapy among the population or the high cost of some therapies (i.e., PCSK9 inhibitors). In addition to conventional therapy, additional strategies may be used. The gut microbiota has been recently considered to play a part in chronic systemic inflammation and hence in CVD. Several studies, though they are still preliminary, consider dysbiosis a risk factor for various CVDs through several mechanisms. In this review, we provide an update of the current literature about the intricate relation between the gut microbiota and the familial hypercholesterolemia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiome: Current Status and Future Perspectives)
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