Due to the success of the original Research Topic, we have decided to launch a Volume II of Rodent Model Organisms: Therapeutic Treatments and Drugs Interaction with the Gut Microbiome .

The microbiome plays an indispensable role in our health. Pathophysiological alteration in the gut microbiota has been linked with the development and maintenance of non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic syndrome.

Therapeutic treatments (such as employing folic acid and zinc for hyperuricemia treatment) and drugs (such as antibiotics) have been shown to modify the gut microbiota. At the same time, intestinal microbiota has been confirmed to influence the pharmacokinetic processes of a variety of oral drugs (such as cyclosporine): manipulating the composition of the microbiome is a very attractive way of improving drug efficacy and safety, since gut microbiota affects absorption, enterohepatic recycling, volume of distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs. Also complementary alternative traditional treatments (ex. Electroacupuncture, Tuina) and drugs (ex. root extracts such as Gynura segetum or Scrophulariae Radix-Atractylodes sinensis) has been shown to have important impact and correlation with the gut microbiota, which has been demonstrated to modulate many extraintestinal organ diseases. Although a considerable number of studies have focused on these interactions, there is still a lack of research on the mechanisms of correlation of all the above with the dysbiosis of the gut microbiota.

In order to better investigate the interaction between therapeutic treatments, drugs and intestinal microbiota, and given the practical and ethical complexity of performing invasive sampling procedures in human subjects, high inter-individual variation in the gut microbiomes of humans, and relative ease of using animals for large scale mechanistic and genotypic research studies, different types of animal models including rodents (mice, rats, guinea pigs, and hamsters), rabbits, pigs, zebra fish, and non-human primates (NHPs; e.g., macaques and vervet monkeys) have been developed and are frequently used to investigate the multiple dynamics of host–microbiome interactions. Among these, rodents – specifically mice and rats – remain the most-widely used models for studying the dynamics of host–gut microbiome interaction in disease development and are convenient models for exploring avenues for developing novel microbial therapies. To characterize human gut microbiota, murine models have been hence widely used, due to the extensive similarities in anatomy, physiology, and genetics. Rodents represent the most used model for studying the impact of microbiota on its host: particularly mouse and rat models are the most widely used animal models for exploring the roles of human gut microbiota and are often used as model organisms for these studies. To improve the accuracy of animal models in studying the interaction between therapeutic treatments, drugs, and gut microbiota, humanized rodents have been developed. These genetically engineered rodents have human genes inserted into their genomes, which enables them to more closely mimic human physiology. As a result, they are valuable models for investigating the impact of these factors on the human gut microbiome.

This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Reviews, Mini-reviews and Perspective articles related to studies performed in traditional rodent or humanized rodent models, and addresses, but is not limited to, the following sub-topics:

- The influence of therapeutic treatments on the composition of gut microbiota
- The correlation between drugs and dysbiosis of the gut microbiota
- The effects of intestinal microbiota on pharmacokinetics of drugs
- The effects of alternative traditional treatments on gut microbiota composition
- How natural alternative drugs influence and modulate the gut microbiota
- The effects of functional foods, probiotics and synbiotics on the composition and structure of gut microbiota for the attenuation of extraintestinal organ diseases

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Rodent Model Organisms: Therapeutic Treatments and Drugs Interaction with the Gut Microbiome, Volume II