Gonzalez Antonio, Stombaugh Jesse, Lozupone Catherine, Turnbaugh Peter J, Gordon Jeffrey I, Knight Rob
Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2011;13(1):55-62. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2011.13.1/agonzalez.
Our understanding of the vast collection of microbes that live on and inside us (microbiota) and their collective genes (microbiome) has been revolutionized by culture-independent "metagenomic" techniques and DNA sequencing technologies. Most of our microbes live in our gut, where they function as a metabolic organ and provide attributes not encoded in our human genome. Metagenomic studies are revealing shared and distinctive features of microbial communities inhabiting different humans. A central question in psychiatry is the relative role of genes and environment in shaping behavior. The human microbiome serves as the interface between our genes and our history of environmental exposures; explorations of our microbiomes thus offer the possibility of providing new insights into our neurodevelopment and our behavioral phenotypes by affecting complex processes such as inter- and intra personal variations in cognition, personality, mood, sleep, and eating behavior, and perhaps even a variety of neuropsychiatric diseases ranging from affective disorders to autism. Better understanding of microbiome-encoded pathways for xenobiotic metabolism also has important implications for improving the efficacy of pharmacologic interventions with neuromodulatory agents.
不依赖培养的“宏基因组”技术和DNA测序技术，彻底改变了我们对生活在我们体内外的大量微生物（微生物群）及其集体基因（微生物组）的认识。我们的大多数微生物生活在肠道中，它们在那里作为一个代谢器官发挥作用，并提供我们人类基因组中未编码的特性。宏基因组研究正在揭示居住在不同人体内的微生物群落的共同和独特特征。精神病学中的一个核心问题是基因和环境在塑造行为中的相对作用。人类微生物组是我们的基因与环境暴露史之间的界面；因此，对我们微生物组的探索有可能通过影响诸如认知、人格、情绪、睡眠和饮食行为等人际和个体内变异等复杂过程，甚至可能影响从情感障碍到自闭症等各种神经精神疾病，为我们的神经发育和行为表型提供新的见解。更好地理解微生物组编码的异生物质代谢途径，对于提高神经调节药物干预的疗效也具有重要意义。
