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Review
. 2020 Dec 4:11:586529.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.586529. eCollection 2020.

The Human Microbiota in Endocrinology: Implications for Pathophysiology, Treatment, and Prognosis in Thyroid Diseases

Giovanni Docimo  1 , Angelo Cangiano  1 , Roberto Maria Romano  1 , Marcello Filograna Pignatelli  1 , Chiara Offi  1 , Vanda Amoresano Paglionico  2 , Marilena Galdiero  3 , Giovanna Donnarumma  3 , Vincenzo Nigro  4 , Daniela Esposito  5 , Mario Rotondi  6 , Giancarlo Candela  1 , Daniela Pasquali  2
Affiliations
Review

The Human Microbiota in Endocrinology: Implications for Pathophysiology, Treatment, and Prognosis in Thyroid Diseases

Giovanni Docimo et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

The human microbiota is an integral component in the maintenance of health and of the immune system. Microbiome-wide association studies have found numerous diseases associated to dysbiosis. Studies are needed to move beyond correlations and begin to address causation. Autoimmune thyroid diseases (ATD) are one of the most common organ-specific autoimmune disorders with an increasing prevalence, higher than 5% worldwide. Most frequent manifestations of ATD are Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease. The exact etiology of ATD remains unknown. Until now it is not clear whether bacterial infections can trigger ATD or modulate the efficacy of treatment and prognosis. The aim of our review is to characterize the microbiota and in ATD and to evaluate the impact of dysbiosis on treatment and prognosis. Moreover, variation of gut microbiome has been associated with thyroid cancer and benign nodules. Here we will characterize the microbioma in benign thyroid nodules, and papillary thyroid cancer to evaluate their implications in the pathophysiology and progression.

Keywords: Hashimoto autoimmune thyroiditis; autoimmunity; cancer; gut microbiota; thyroid.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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