Biology of the Microbiome 2: Metabolic Role

Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2017 Mar;46(1):37-47. doi: 10.1016/j.gtc.2016.09.006. Epub 2017 Jan 4.

Abstract

The human microbiome is a new frontier in biology and one that is helping to define what it is to be human. Recently, we have begun to understand that the "communication" between the host and its microbiome is via a metabolic superhighway. By interrogating and understanding the molecules involved we may start to know who the main players are, and how we can modulate them and the mechanisms of health and disease.

Keywords: Mass spectrometry; Metabonome; Microbiome; Multi-variate data; NMR.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacteria / metabolism*
  • Blood Chemical Analysis
  • Feces / chemistry
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Metabolome*
  • Urinalysis