Journal
NATURE MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 2, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2017.75
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Funding
- Strauss Institute research fellowship
- Abisch Frenkel Foundation for the Promotion of Life Sciences
- Gurwin Family Fund for Scientific Research
- Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
- Crown Endowment Fund for Immunological Research
- Benoziyo Endowment Fund for the Advancement of Science
- Adelis Foundation
- CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
- European Research Council
- German-Israel Binational Foundation
- Israel Science Foundation
- Minerva Foundation
- Rising Tide Foundation
- Alon Foundation Scholar Award
- Kenneth Rainin Foundation
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The increasing evidence pointing towards the involvement of the gut microbiome in multiple diseases, as well as its plasticity, renders it a desirable potential therapeutic target. Nevertheless, classical therapies based on the consumption of live probiotic bacteria, or their enrichment by prebiotics, exhibit limited efficacy. Recently, a novel therapeutic approach has been suggested based on metabolites secreted, modulated or degraded by the microbiome. As many of the host-microorganism interactions pertaining to human health are mediated by metabolites, this approach may be able to provide therapeutic efficacy while overcoming caveats of current microbiome-targeting therapies, such as colonization resistance and inter-individual variation in microbial composition. In this Perspective, we will discuss the evidence that supports pursuing the metabolite-based therapeutic approach as well as issues critical for its implementation. In a broader context, we will discuss how recent advances in microbiome research may improve and refine current treatment modalities, and the potential of combining them with metabolite-based interventions as a means of achieving a person-specific, integrated and efficient therapy.
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