Role of the Microbiome as the First Metal Detoxification Mechanism

Abstract

Exposure to environmental toxins in water, soil and air are increasing with health effects, mainly in older ages and physiological states (childhood and pregnancy). The role of the microbiota has been widely studied with effects on the maintenance of health but this is only possible with a diet that promotes it. The traditional Mexican diet is rich in fiber, which has prebiotic effects and has found a higher excretion of arsenic and fluoride in adolescents who maintained a diet high in fiber derived from traditional foods. After several descriptive studies in the state of Guanajuato, since 2004, first with arsenic in drinking water in population of several communities, in 2015, it is achieved through an intervention study with a supplementation of several vitamins and minerals in population adolescent, a greater urinary arsenic and fluoride excretion, as well as a greater consumption of traditional foods such as beans, bananas, orange and quelites. Food is key to maintain a function of the microbiota, so its review and study should be encouraged.

Microbiome-Aware Ecotoxicology of Organisms: Relevance, Pitfalls, and Challenges

“…Data on effects of environmental contaminants on microbiomes has been published over the last years, with a focus on animal gut-associated bacteria (19)(20)(21)(22). Published studies include controlled exposure of model organisms to various types of contaminants including pesticides, antibiotics, heavy metals, xenobiotics, or nanoparticles (23,24). Bacterial community composition is typically assessed using the 16S rRNA sequence as a taxonomic marker that identifies Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), a commonly used proxy for species.…”

“…Many pharmaceutical drugs such as lovastatin or loperamide were also proved to be activated in the small intestine by bacteria-mediated biotransformations (30,31). Alternatively, xenobiotics can also alter activities of the gut microbiome (23). Besides the obvious example of antibiotics, many molecules such as epoxiconazole or glyphosate, both pesticides, are known to induce shifts in microbiome compositions (32).…”

Microbiome-aware Ecotoxicology: Relevance, Pitfalls and Challenges

“…The body of evidence gathered includes exposure to various types of contaminant including pesticides, antibiotics, heavy metals, xenobiotics, or nanoparticles (Licht and Bahl 2019;Monroy-Torres et al 2019). Most published results indicate that gut bacterial community composition is modified during these exposures, supporting that environmental chemicals interfere with microbiome composition (Evariste et al 2019).…”

Parkinson’s Disease and the Metal–Microbiome–Gut–Brain Axis: A Systems Toxicology Approach

“…For example, numerous probiotic strains from the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium have known bioremediation effects on heavy metals [ 35 , 36 ]. To better decipher the systems-based link between the metal–microbiome–gut–brain axis, it is important to interpret how microbial dysbiosis, in relation to oxidative stress from metals, leads to a pro-inflammatory environment and how the gut microbiome influences the remediation of xenobiotic metals [ 37 ]. Therefore, this review will summarize the current understanding of the metal–microbiome–gut–brain axis and propose future perspectives to mitigate heavy metal toxicity through gut-associated microbiome chelation, specifically, the process in which microbiota remove toxic metals from the body by producing molecules, which reduce toxicity and oxidative stress prior to neurodegenerative disorders [ 38 ].…”