Mancabelli Leonardo, Tarracchini Chiara, Longhi Giulia, Alessandri Giulia, Ventura Marco, Turroni Francesca
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Microbiome Research Hub, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Jul 16;16:1610170. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1610170. eCollection 2025.
Over millions of years, humans and their gut microbes have developed a symbiotic relationship that benefits both organisms. Many plants and herbs consumed as food by humans, such as aloe vera gel and dandelion root extracts, contain bioactive compounds with recognized therapeutic or preventive effects. However, the impact of these botanicals on the composition and functionality of the human gut microbiota is not yet understood. In this study, the molecular impact of these botanicals on reconstructed human gut microbiota was assessed by - bioreactor experiments followed by metagenomics and transcriptomic approaches, highlighting both taxonomic and functional changes in the human gut microbiome. Furthermore, cross-feeding activities established by common human gut microbial taxa like spp. when cultivated on these extracts were assessed. In conclusion, the results show that botanicals affect intestinal populations that are highly dependent on the microbial taxa present and that trophic interactions are established in few key gut members.
在数百万年的时间里，人类与其肠道微生物形成了一种互利共生的关系，对双方都有益。许多被人类作为食物食用的植物和草药，如芦荟凝胶和蒲公英根提取物，都含有具有公认治疗或预防作用的生物活性化合物。然而，这些植物性物质对人类肠道微生物群的组成和功能的影响尚不清楚。在本研究中，通过生物反应器实验，随后采用宏基因组学和转录组学方法，评估了这些植物性物质对重建的人类肠道微生物群的分子影响，突出了人类肠道微生物组在分类学和功能上的变化。此外，还评估了常见的人类肠道微生物类群（如 spp.）在这些提取物上培养时建立的交叉喂养活动。总之，结果表明，植物性物质会影响高度依赖于现存微生物类群的肠道菌群，并且在少数关键的肠道成员中建立了营养相互作用。
