Harnessing the Medicinal Potential of Gut Microbiota for Human Health

The human gut harbors a complex micro-environment dominated by microbes. The microbial flora inhabits the host gut in a symbiotic relationship, boosting host immunity and maintaining body homeostasis. Gut microbes regulate the translocation of harmful microbes by maintaining gut barrier integrity, nutrient absorption, and assimilation, as well as transporting beneficial metabolites to various body organs such as the liver, spleen, pancreas, lungs, heart, and brain, thereby maintaining healthy body physiology. Studies also suggest that gut microbiota composition may play an important role in modulating immune responses to vaccination.

Over the last two decades, evidence has revealed that gut microbiota dysbiosis is associated with various disease conditions, including obesity, type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, colitis, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, splenomegaly, and pancreatitis. However, modulating the disrupted gut microbiota with healthy microbes through fecal microbial transplant, dietary intervention, antibiotics, prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics treatments can ameliorate these detrimental effects.

Exploring and understanding the mechanisms involved in the interaction between the host and gut microbiota is pivotal. Therefore, this Research Topic targets research findings on the medicinal properties of gut microbiota for various disease complications and how the microbiota may mediate vaccine outcomes in different populations. We invite researchers to submit their original, creative, innovative, unique, and novel research findings and review articles on the medicinal properties of gut flora for improving human health conditions.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Gut Microbiota, Microbial Flora, Symbiotic Relationship, Host Immunity, Body Homeostasis, Gut Barrier Integrity, Nutrient Absorption, Metabolite Transport, Dysbiosis, Fecal Microbial Transplant

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.