The human gut microbiome as source of innovation for health: Which physiological and therapeutic outcomes could we expect?

Abstract

Summary From the moment of birth, each human being builds a microbe-host symbiosis which is key for the preservation of its health and well-being. This personal symbiotic coexistence is the result of progressive enrichments in microorganism diversity through external supplies. This diversity is nowadays massively overthrown by drastic changes related to clinical practice in birth management, environmental exposure, nutrition and healthcare behaviors. The last two generations have been the frame of massive modifications in life and food habits, with people being more and more sedentary, overfed and permeated with drugs and pollutants. We are now able to measure the impact of these changes on the gut microbiota diversity. Concomitantly, these modifications of lifestyle were associated with a dramatic increase in incidence of immune-mediated diseases including metabolic, allergic and inflammatory diseases and most likely neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Microbiota is becoming a hot topic in the scientific community and in the mainstream media. The number of scientific publications increased by up to a factor three over the last five years, with gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases being the most productive areas. In the intellectual property landscape, the patent families on microbiota have more than doubled in the meantime. In parallel, funding either from National Institutes (e.g. from NIH which funds research mainly in the field of allergies, infections, cancer and cardiovascular diseases, from the White House which launched the national microbiome initiative) or by pharmaceutical companies follow the same trend, showing a boost and a strong support in the research field on microbiota. All major health players are investing in microbiome research as shown by the number of deals signed and by funding during 2015. The Giens round table addressed how the medicine of tomorrow, considering human beings as a human-microbe symbiotic supraorganism, could leverage microbiome knowledge and tools. The rationale for our working group has been structured around four domains of innovation that could derive from ongoing efforts in deciphering the interactions between human cells and intestinal microbiome as a central component of human health, namely: (1) development of stratification and monitoring tools; (2) identification of new target and drug discovery, as a part of our supra-genome; (4) exploitation of microbiota as a therapeutic target that can be modulated; (4) and finally as a source of live biotherapeutics and adjuvants. These four streams will exemplify how microbiota has changed the way we consider a wide range of chronic and incurable diseases and the consequences of long-lasting dysbiosis. In-depth microbiota analysis is opening one of the broadest fields of investigation for improving human and animal health and will be a source of major therapeutic innovations for tackling today's medical unmet needs. We thus propose a range of recommendations for basic researchers, care givers as well as for hea...

Holobiont: a conceptual framework to explore the eco‐evolutionary and functional implications of host–microbiota interactions in all ecosystems

“…These issues have been addressed in several biological models from humans to plants and from terrestrial insects to marine crustaceans. Jeroen Raes (Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium), Joël Doré (INRA, Jouy‐en‐Josas, France) and Kevin Theis (Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA) presented different approaches of research on humans such as large population studies and disorders‐centred studies; they also proposed a vision of a future medicine taking into account the holobiont concept and environmental microbiota (Bordenstein & Theis, ; Doré et al ., ; Vandeputte et al ., ). Kostas Bourtzis (University of Patras, Agrinio, Greece) presented novel strategies for controlling human‐disease vector species based on the release of symbiont‐infected individuals that induce sterility in uninfected ones (Zhang et al ., ); an approach that could be considered for limiting dissemination of some plant diseases.…”

The Canmore Declaration: Statement of Principles for Planetary Health

“…Low-grade inflammation (immune responses in general) and the microbiome (even though it is still in its scientific infancy) represent points of entry for discourse concerning the ways in which lifestyle-and the social, political and marketing factors that influence lifestyle-can manifest in the biology of health. For example, it is already possible to trace the policies and practices that promote the marketing of westernized diets, ultra-processed foods/soft drinks and fast-food (that is, dietary patterns that are at odds with high-level wellness at personal, public and planetary scales) to low-grade inflammation, widespread microbial perturbation, and environmental degradation [42][43][44][45]. Moreover, it is also possible to determine how negative outcomes associated with such policies and practices are disproportionately shouldered by disadvantaged individuals and communities [46].…”

Introduction to the special focus issue on the impact of diet on gut microbiota composition and function and future opportunities for nutritional modulation of the gut microbiome to improve human health

“…A recent round table identified areas where knowledge of the gut microbiome could fuel innovation in physiologic and therapeutic outcomes. 58 They identified 4 domains of innovation that could derive from ongoing efforts in deciphering the interactions between human cells and intestinal microbiome as a central component of human health, namely: 1 development of stratification and monitoring tools; 2 identification of new target and drug discovery, as a part of our supra-genome; 3 exploitation of microbiota as a therapeutic target that can be modulated; 4 and finally as a source of live biotherapeutics and adjuvants. 58 The Experts in nutrition and clinical dietetics could actively contribute to several of these areas, particularly 3 and 4, and I encourage greater cross-disciplinary collaboration to achieve the full potential of diet to modify the intestinal microbiome to improve human health.…”