Discipline of Genetics, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, South Africa.
Discipline of Genetics, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, South Africa.
Gene. 2025 Jan 15;933:148923. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2024.148923. Epub 2024 Sep 6.
Differences in microbial communities at different body habitats define the microbiome composition of the human body. The gut, oral, skin vaginal fluid and tissue microbiome, are pivotal for human development and immune response and cross talk between these microbiomes is evident. Population studies reveal that various factors, such as host genetics, diet, lifestyle, aging, and geographical location are strongly associated with population-specific microbiome differences. The present review discusses the factors that shape microbiome diversity in humans, and microbiome differences in African, Asian and Caucasian populations. Gut microbiome studies show that microbial species Bacteroides is commonly found in individuals living in Western countries (Caucasian populations), while Prevotella is prevalent in non-Western countries (African and Asian populations). This association is mainly due to the high carbohydrate, high fat diet in western countries in contrast to high fibre, low fat diets in African/ Asian regions. Majority of the microbiome studies focus on the bacteriome component; however, interesting findings reveal that increased bacteriophage richness, which makes up the virome component, correlates with decreased bacterial diversity, and causes microbiome dysbiosis. An increase of Caudovirales (bacteriophages) is associated with a decrease in enteric bacteria in inflammatory bowel diseases. Future microbiome studies should evaluate the interrelation between bacteriome and virome to fully understand their significance in the pathogenesis and progression of human diseases. With ethnic health disparities becoming increasingly apparent, studies need to emphasize on the association of population-specific microbiome differences and human diseases, to develop microbiome-based therapeutics. Additionally, targeted phage therapy is emerging as an attractive alternative to antibiotics for bacterial infections. With rapid rise in microbiome research, focus should be on standardizing protocols, advanced bioinformatics tools, and reducing sequencing platform related biases. Ultimately, integration of multi-omics data (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) will lead to precision models for personalized microbiome therapeutics advancement.
不同身体栖息地的微生物群落差异决定了人体微生物组的组成。肠道、口腔、皮肤、阴道液和组织微生物组对人类的发育和免疫反应至关重要，并且这些微生物组之间存在明显的相互交流。人群研究表明，宿主遗传学、饮食、生活方式、衰老和地理位置等多种因素与人群特有的微生物组差异密切相关。本综述讨论了影响人类微生物组多样性的因素，以及非洲、亚洲和高加索人群的微生物组差异。肠道微生物组研究表明，生活在西方国家（高加索人群）的个体中，常见的微生物物种是拟杆菌属，而在非西方国家（非洲和亚洲人群）中，普雷沃特菌属则较为普遍。这种关联主要是由于西方国家的高碳水化合物、高脂肪饮食与非洲/亚洲地区的高纤维、低脂肪饮食形成对比。大多数微生物组研究都集中在细菌组成分上；然而，有趣的发现表明，增加的噬菌体丰富度（构成病毒组成分）与细菌多样性的降低相关，并导致微生物组失调。在炎症性肠病中，肠杆菌科数量的减少与长尾病毒科（噬菌体）的增加有关。未来的微生物组研究应该评估细菌组和病毒组之间的相互关系，以充分了解它们在人类疾病的发病机制和进展中的意义。随着种族健康差异日益明显，研究需要强调特定人群的微生物组差异与人类疾病之间的关联，以开发基于微生物组的治疗方法。此外，靶向噬菌体治疗作为一种有吸引力的抗生素替代品，正在出现用于细菌感染。随着微生物组研究的快速发展，重点应该放在标准化方案、先进的生物信息学工具以及减少测序平台相关偏差上。最终，整合多组学数据（基因组学、转录组学、蛋白质组学和代谢组学）将为个性化微生物组治疗的进步提供精确的模型。
