Microbial biotransformations in the human distal gut

Elisabeth M. Bik, Juan A. Ugalde, Jon Cousins, Audrey D. Goddard, Jessica Richman, Zachary S. Apte

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The human distal gut is home to a rich and dense microbial community with representatives of all three domains of life which are intricately connected with our physiology and health. The combined genomes of these microbes, collectively called the human microbiome, vastly expand the metabolic capacities of our own genome, allowing us to break down and extract energy from dietary compounds that human enzymes cannot digest. In addition, the variable composition of these communities and their biotransformations might explain inter-individual differences in toxicities, tolerances and efficacies for certain drugs. Recent advances in sequencing technologies and bioinformatics have provided exciting new insights into the genomes of our microbial symbionts, their functional capacities and the interactions between these microbes and their human host. This review summarizes the metabolic conversions of dietary components and pharmaceuticals that take place in the human distal gut, as well as their implications for human health. Linked Articles: This article is part of a themed section on When Pharmacology Meets the Microbiome: New Targets for Therapeutics? To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.24/issuetoc.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4404-4414
Number of pages11
JournalBritish Journal of Pharmacology
Volume175
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2018
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pharmacology

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