Host-microbiota Interactions in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Immunol

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2020 Feb 2

PMID 32005980

Citations 278

Authors

Roberta Caruso

Bernard C Lo

Gabriel Nunez

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The mammalian intestine is colonized by trillions of microorganisms that have co-evolved with the host in a symbiotic relationship. The presence of large numbers of symbionts near the epithelial surface of the intestine poses an enormous challenge to the host because it must avoid the activation of harmful inflammatory responses to the microorganisms while preserving its ability to mount robust immune responses to invading pathogens. In patients with inflammatory bowel disease, there is a breakdown of the multiple strategies that the immune system has evolved to promote the separation between symbiotic microorganisms and the intestinal epithelium and the effective killing of penetrant microorganisms, while suppressing the activation of inappropriate T cell responses to resident microorganisms. Understanding the complex interactions between intestinal microorganisms and the host may provide crucial insight into the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease as well as new avenues to prevent and treat the disease.

Citing Articles

Probiotic nanocomposite materials with excellent resistance, inflammatory targeting, and multiple efficacies for enhanced treatment of colitis in mice.

Huang Y, Cai H, Liu H, Wang L, Feng G, Ding Z J Nanobiotechnology. 2025; 23(1):188.

PMID: 40055678 PMC: 11889847. DOI: 10.1186/s12951-025-03240-1.

Culture-based characterization of gut microbiota in inflammatory bowel disease.

Park H, Yeo S, Lee T, Han Y, Ryu C, Huh C Front Microbiol. 2025; 16:1538620.

PMID: 40051478 PMC: 11884817. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1538620.

Transcriptomics and microbiome insights reveal the protective mechanism of mulberry-derived postbiotics against inflammation in LPS-induced mice.

Abbas Z, Tong Y, Zhang J, Sammad A, Wang J, Ahmad B Front Immunol. 2025; 16:1536694.

PMID: 40040706 PMC: 11876837. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1536694.

Causal association between gastroesophageal reflux disease and sepsis, and the mediating role of gut bacterial abundance, a Mendelian randomization study.

Fu Z, Jiang Z, Zhao F, Gou T, Jiang L Medicine (Baltimore). 2025; 104(8):e41631.

PMID: 39993106 PMC: 11857025. DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000041631.

Gut microbiota dysbiosis and associated immune response in systemic lupus erythematosus: impact of disease and treatment.

Ali A, Zahran S, Eissa M, Kashef M, Ali A Gut Pathog. 2025; 17(1):10.

PMID: 39966979 PMC: 11834511. DOI: 10.1186/s13099-025-00683-7.

References

Kaplan G . The global burden of IBD: from 2015 to 2025. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015; 12(12):720-7. DOI: 10.1038/nrgastro.2015.150. View

Xavier R, Podolsky D . Unravelling the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. Nature. 2007; 448(7152):427-34. DOI: 10.1038/nature06005. View

Liu J, van Sommeren S, Huang H, Ng S, Alberts R, Takahashi A . Association analyses identify 38 susceptibility loci for inflammatory bowel disease and highlight shared genetic risk across populations. Nat Genet. 2015; 47(9):979-986. PMC: 4881818. DOI: 10.1038/ng.3359. View

McGovern D, Kugathasan S, Cho J . Genetics of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Gastroenterology. 2015; 149(5):1163-1176.e2. PMC: 4915781. DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2015.08.001. View

Pickard J, Zeng M, Caruso R, Nunez G . Gut microbiota: Role in pathogen colonization, immune responses, and inflammatory disease. Immunol Rev. 2017; 279(1):70-89. PMC: 5657496. DOI: 10.1111/imr.12567. View

Round J, Mazmanian S . The gut microbiota shapes intestinal immune responses during health and disease. Nat Rev Immunol. 2009; 9(5):313-23. PMC: 4095778. DOI: 10.1038/nri2515. View

Eckburg P, Bik E, Bernstein C, Purdom E, Dethlefsen L, Sargent M . Diversity of the human intestinal microbial flora. Science. 2005; 308(5728):1635-8. PMC: 1395357. DOI: 10.1126/science.1110591. View

Hooper L, Littman D, Macpherson A . Interactions between the microbiota and the immune system. Science. 2012; 336(6086):1268-73. PMC: 4420145. DOI: 10.1126/science.1223490. View

Littman D, Pamer E . Role of the commensal microbiota in normal and pathogenic host immune responses. Cell Host Microbe. 2011; 10(4):311-23. PMC: 3202012. DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2011.10.004. View

10.

Lozupone C, Stombaugh J, Gordon J, Jansson J, Knight R . Diversity, stability and resilience of the human gut microbiota. Nature. 2012; 489(7415):220-30. PMC: 3577372. DOI: 10.1038/nature11550. View

11.

Honda K, Littman D . The microbiome in infectious disease and inflammation. Annu Rev Immunol. 2012; 30:759-95. PMC: 4426968. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-immunol-020711-074937. View

12.

Macpherson A, Slack E, Geuking M, McCoy K . The mucosal firewalls against commensal intestinal microbes. Semin Immunopathol. 2009; 31(2):145-9. DOI: 10.1007/s00281-009-0174-3. View

13.

Belkaid Y, Hand T . Role of the microbiota in immunity and inflammation. Cell. 2014; 157(1):121-41. PMC: 4056765. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.03.011. View

14.

Arike L, Holmen-Larsson J, Hansson G . Intestinal Muc2 mucin O-glycosylation is affected by microbiota and regulated by differential expression of glycosyltranferases. Glycobiology. 2017; 27(4):318-328. PMC: 5444243. DOI: 10.1093/glycob/cww134. View

15.

Johansson M, Phillipson M, Petersson J, Velcich A, Holm L, Hansson G . The inner of the two Muc2 mucin-dependent mucus layers in colon is devoid of bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008; 105(39):15064-9. PMC: 2567493. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0803124105. View

16.

Johansson M, Holmen Larsson J, Hansson G . The two mucus layers of colon are organized by the MUC2 mucin, whereas the outer layer is a legislator of host-microbial interactions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010; 108 Suppl 1:4659-65. PMC: 3063600. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1006451107. View

17.

McGuckin M, Linden S, Sutton P, Florin T . Mucin dynamics and enteric pathogens. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2011; 9(4):265-78. DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro2538. View

18.

Ayabe T, Satchell D, Wilson C, Parks W, Selsted M, Ouellette A . Secretion of microbicidal alpha-defensins by intestinal Paneth cells in response to bacteria. Nat Immunol. 2001; 1(2):113-8. DOI: 10.1038/77783. View

19.

Vaishnava S, Behrendt C, Ismail A, Eckmann L, Hooper L . Paneth cells directly sense gut commensals and maintain homeostasis at the intestinal host-microbial interface. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008; 105(52):20858-63. PMC: 2603261. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0808723105. View

20.

Vaishnava S, Yamamoto M, Severson K, Ruhn K, Yu X, Koren O . The antibacterial lectin RegIIIgamma promotes the spatial segregation of microbiota and host in the intestine. Science. 2011; 334(6053):255-8. PMC: 3321924. DOI: 10.1126/science.1209791. View