Ji Youn Yoo
Moumita Dutta- 1College of Nursing, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
- 2University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
Editorial on the Research Topic
Microbiome: the modulator of human health
Introduction
Increasing evidence indicates microbiome plays a crucial role in modulating human health, which influences various pathological as well as physiological processes, including immune and endocrine regulation and neurodevelopment (Jacobson et al., 2020; Zhu et al., 2023; Del Bo et al., 2021). Currently, with the growing emphasis on precision health and multi-omics approaches, the microbiome is increasingly recognized as both a diagnostic marker and a therapeutic target (Yuan et al., 2022; Rosario et al., 2024). This Research Topic brings together cutting-edge studies exploring how the microbiome associates with host health.
The Microbiome’s power on human disease and therapy: highlights from the Research Topic
One of the most compelling themes emerging from this Research Topic is the dynamic interplay between microbiome and its growing role in both therapeutic interventions and diagnostic applications. The study, Hisamatsu et al. is one of the first to examine the relationship between commonly prescribed medications and alterations in the salivary microbiome among older adults. Notably, statins that are widely used for cardiovascular disease were significantly associated with a reduction in Streptococcus abundance. These findings offer a novel perspective on how administered medications may modulate microbial communities beyond the gut, expanding our understanding of host–microbe–medications interactions.
Another study, Zhang et al. introduces a novel diagnostic approach for assessing peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis (PDRP) risk by utilizing metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS). This advanced technique not only demonstrated higher sensitivity in pathogen detection compared to traditional culture methods but also revealed how variations in dialysis practices influence gut microbial composition. These findings offer valuable insights into the etiological mechanisms of PDRP and highlight the potential of mNGS as a powerful tool for early diagnosis and personalized infection prevention strategies.
An interesting study by Gao et al., depicted the promising therapeutic impact of melatonin on diabetic cognitive impairment (DCI) on murine models. In this study, Gao et al. researchers characterized the promising impact of melatonin in DCI assessing the behavioral parameters, serum levels of inflammatory markers and 16S rRNA sequencing. Wild type (WT) and diabetic (db/db) mice models were used to show the promising therapeutic impact of melatonin treatment in db/db mice. Melatonin treatment ameliorated DCI through the modulation of gut microbiome composition and microbial metabolites. Melatonin treatment enhanced the level of beneficial short chain fatty acid (SCFA) in db/db mice which was considered to reverse the cognitive impairment in the animal group compared to their treatment counterpart.
Yu et al., investigated the ameliorative effects of berberine on ulcerative colitis (UC) models using a multi-omics approach. The authors applied multi omics approach (metagenomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics) to comprehensively assess how berberine modulates the gut microbiome and bile acids (BA) metabolism to exert therapeutic effects on UC models. A few numbers of beneficial taxa decreased in the gut of UC models and liver produced primary BA enhanced during the experimental period. Berberine not only inhibited the colonization of the pathogenic bacteria but also promoted BA metabolism. The approach opened a new area to explore to understand the therapeutic impact of berberine treatment on UC patients.
Conclusion and future outlook
The studies featured in this Research Topic highlighted the central role of microbiome in deepening our understanding and improving the treatment of complex diseases. Collectively, these findings strengthen the view that microbial communities are not passive bystanders but active participants in influencing therapeutic outcomes, vulnerability to disease, and the recovery process. Gut Microbiome as well as the microbial metabolites could be an interesting area to modulate host health and host disease development.
As guest editors, we are honored to have curated this diverse and impactful Research Topic. We hope it will encourage further investigation into microbiome-host interactions and will inspire the development of microbiome-informed strategies for personalized health interventions.
Author contributions
JY: Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing. MD: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing.
Funding
The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article.
Conflict of interest
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.
Generative AI statement
The authors declare that no Generative AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.
Publisher’s note
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References
Del Bo, C., Bernardi, S., Cherubini, A., Porrini, M., Gargari, G., Hidalgo-Liberona, N., et al. (2021). A polyphenol-rich dietary pattern improves intestinal permeability, evaluated as serum zonulin levels, in older subjects: the MaPLE randomised controlled trial. Clin. Nutr. 40 (5), 3006–3018. doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2020.12.014
Jacobson, I. G., Williams, E. C., Seelig, A. D., Littman, A. J., Maynard, C. C., Bricker, J. B., et al. (2020). Longitudinal investigation of military-specific factors associated with continued unhealthy alcohol use among a large US military cohort. J. Addict. Med. 14 (4), e53–e63. doi:10.1097/ADM.0000000000000596
Rosario, S. R., Long, M. D., Chilakapati, S., Gomez, E. C., Battaglia, S., Singh, P. K., et al. (2024). Integrative multi-omics analysis uncovers tumor-immune-gut axis influencing immunotherapy outcomes in ovarian cancer. Nat. Commun. 15 (1), 10609–10613. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-54565-8
Yuan, Y., Wang, C., Wang, G., Guo, X., Jiang, S., Zuo, X., et al. (2022). Airway microbiome and serum metabolomics analysis identify differential candidate biomarkers in allergic rhinitis. Front. Immunol. 12, 771136. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.771136
Zhu, R., Fang, Y., Li, H., Liu, Y., Wei, J., Zhang, S., et al. (2023). Psychobiotic Lactobacillus plantarum JYLP-326 relieves anxiety, depression, and insomnia symptoms in test anxious college via modulating the gut microbiota and its metabolism. Front. Immunol. 14, 1158137. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1158137
Keywords: gut microbiome, bile acid, Streptococcus, melatonin, ulcerative colitis, berberine, diabetic cognitive impairment (DCI)
Citation: Yoo JY and Dutta M (2025) Editorial: Microbiome: the modulator of human health. Front. Pharmacol. 16:1625412. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1625412
Received: 08 May 2025; Accepted: 23 May 2025;
Published: 04 June 2025.
Edited and reviewed by:
Angelo A. Izzo, University of Naples Federico II, ItalyCopyright © 2025 Yoo and Dutta. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Moumita Dutta, ZG1vdW1pdGExOTg4QGdtYWlsLmNvbQ==
†These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship