Gut Microbiome Toxicity: Connecting the Environment and Gut Microbiome-Associated Diseases

Abstract

The human gut microbiome can be easily disturbed upon exposure to a range of toxic environmental agents. Environmentally induced perturbation in the gut microbiome is strongly associated with human disease risk. Functional gut microbiome alterations that may adversely influence human health is an increasingly appreciated mechanism by which environmental chemicals exert their toxic effects. In this review, we define the functional damage driven by environmental exposure in the gut microbiome as gut microbiome toxicity. The establishment of gut microbiome toxicity links the toxic effects of various environmental agents and microbiota-associated diseases, calling for more comprehensive toxicity evaluation with extended consideration of gut microbiome toxicity.

Keywords: chemical toxicity; environment; gut microbiome.

Figure 1

A potential new member of the organ toxicity family: gut microbiome toxicity. Toxicity of organs including brain, liver, and kidney is well defined and acknowledged. Similarly, the discussion of gut microbiome toxicity encompasses environmental exposures (causes), interactions between the gut microbiome toxicity and human diseases (mechanisms of gut microbiota-related diseases), biomarker and assessment (diagnosis), and modulation (treatment).

Figure 2

Schematic representation of how gut microbiome toxicity connects the environment and microbiota-associated diseases. Triangles of different colors at the bottom represent functional metabolites produced by a perturbed gut microbiome such as signaling molecules, detrimental metabolites, and neurotransmitters, which could potentially contribute to adverse health outcomes.