Infectious Diseases and Translational Medicine

News and Views

Gut Microbiota: From Fundamental Research to Translational Medicine

Yujing Bi

he human microbiota is a hot topic at present because increasing evidences demonstrate that it should be considered an organ based on its importance to human health [1].
Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is significantly related to many human disorders. In
turn, correcting such imbalances and taking advantage of gut microbes are possible methods for alleviating or even curing host diseases. A recent study published in Cell [2]indicated that inhibition of gut microbial production of trimethylamine(TMA) specifically prevents atherosclerosis in vivo. Another study found that a diet supplemented with TMA Noxide (TMAO) increased the level of atherosclerosis in mice [3], which suggested TMAO
might be a causative factor in cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, direct inhibition
of flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO3), a hepatic enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of TMA to TMAO, results in TMA accumulation and several unpleasant side effects.
The small-molecule 3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol (DMB), identified by Wang et al., reduces
TMAO through non-lethal inhibition of microbial TMA formation in mice, even when
fed a western diet, including high choline. DMB is a non-toxic compound found naturally
in foods such as olive oil and red wine. Therefore, the risk of CVD could be reduced by
some dietary habits (such as a Mediterranean diet), which might stem from changes in gut
microbiota. Although the impact of DMB on microbial TMA has only been observed in
mouse models, it provides a guideline for the treatment of CVD in humans by regulating
gut microbes.
There are many similar studies that target gut microbes to treat host disorders. For example, Sarkis group verified that a human commensal bacterium could improve autism
spectrum disorder (ASD)-related gastrointestinal deficits and behavioral abnormalities in
mice [4], which indicated that microbiome-mediated therapies might be a safe and effective
treatment for ASD. In addition, fecal microbiota transplantation, which has aroused strong
interest in recent years, is reported to be a highly successful therapy for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection [5]. These studies support novel research ideas that are no longer
focused solely on the host, but rather on the intimacy of the host-microbiota relationship.
Considering the relative ease of regulating the gut microbiota[1], targeting these organisms through diet, prebiotics, probiotics, or other methods may become a useful strategy
for curing diseases. To date, a large number of studies have been devoted to uncovering
the relationship between microbial metabolites and human diseases, and it is highly likely
that more bacterial or related pathways involved in human disease will be identified. In
the future, targeting the microbiome may represent an effective and complementary strategy to current approaches for preventing and treating diseases.

From Beijing Institute of Microbiology

and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071,
China.
Correspondence to: Yujing Bi, Email:
byj7801@sina.com.
Open access
DOI: 10.11979/idtm.201502002
Citation: Bi YJ. Gut microbiota: from
fundamental research to translational
medicine. Infect Dis Transl Med, 2015;
1(2):57.
Copyright The Author(s) 2015. This
article is distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and
the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate
if changes were made. The Creative
Commons Public Domain Dedication
waiver (http://creativecommons.org/
publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the
data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Received: December 10, 2015
Accepted: December 25, 2015
Published: December 30, 2015

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development
Program 863, China (No. 2015AA020702).

REFERENCES
1
2

Bi Y, Qin N, Yang R: The human microbiota: a neglected organ in precision medicine.

Infect Dis Translat Med 2015, 1(2): 63-72.
Wang Z, Roberts AB, Buffa JA, Levison BS,
Zhu W, Org E, Gu X, Huang Y, ZamanianDar- yoush M, Culley MK, DiDonato AJ, Fu
X, Hazen JE, Krajcik D,DiDonato JA, Lusis
AJ, Hazen SL: Non-lethal Inhibition of Gut
Microbial Trimethylamine Production for
the Treatment of Atherosclerosis. Cell 2015,

Infect Dis Transl Med 2015;1(2):57.

163(7): 15851595.
Wang Z, Klipfell E, Bennett BJ, Koeth R,
Levison BS, Dugar B, Feldstein AE, Britt
EB, Fu X, Chung YM, Wu Y,Schauer P,
Smith JD,Allayee H, Tang WH, DiDonato
JA, Lusis AJ, Hazen SL: Gut flora metabolism of phosphatidylcholine promotes cardiovascular disease. Nature 2011, 472(7341):
5763.
Hsiao EY, McBride SW, Hsien S, Sharon
G, Hyde ER, McCue T, Codelli JA, Chow
J, Reisman SE, Petrosino JF, Patterson PH,

Mazmanian SK: Microbiota modulate behavioral and physiological abnormalities associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Cell 2013, 155(7):1451-1463.
van Nood E, Vrieze A, Nieuwdorp M, Fuentes S, Zoetendal EG, de Vos WM, Visser
CE, Kuijper EJ, Bartelsman JF, Tijssen JG,
Speelman P, Dijkgraaf MG, Keller JJ. Duodenal infusion of donor feces for recurrent
Clostridium difficile. N Engl J Med 2013,
368(5): 407-15.

57