Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME): Current Developments, Applications, and Future Prospects.

The human gastrointestinal microbiota plays a vital role in maintaining host health and preventing diseases, prompting the creation of simulators to replicate this intricate system. The Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME), a multicompartment dynamic simulator, has emerged as a pivotal in vitro model for studying the interactions and interferences within the human gut microbiota. The continuous and real-time monitoring hallmarks, along with the programmatically flexible setup, bestow SHIME with the ability to mimic the entire human intestinal ecosystem with high dynamics and stability, allowing the evaluation of various treatments on the bowel microbiota in a controlled environment. This review outlines recent developments in SHIME systems, including the M-SHIME, Twin-SHIME, Triple-SHIME, and Toddle SHIME models, highlighting their applications in the fields of food and nutritional science, drug development, gut health research, and traditional Chinese medicine. Additionally, the prospect of SHIME integrating with other advanced technologies is also discussed. The findings underscore the versatility of SHIME technology, demonstrating its significant contributions to current gut ecosystem research and its potential for future innovation in microbiome-related fields.