Mycobiota in gastrointestinal diseases.
New insights gained through the use of state-of-the-art technologies, including next-generation sequencing, are starting to reveal that the association between the gastrointestinal tract and the resident mycobiota (fungal community) is complex and multifaceted, in which fungi are active participants influencing health and disease. Characterizing the human mycobiome (the fungi and their genome) in healthy individuals showed that the gastrointestinal tract contains 66 fungal genera and 184 fungal species, with Candida as the dominant fungal genera. Although fungi have been associated with a number of gastrointestinal diseases, characterization of the mycobiome has mainly been focused on patients with IBD and graft-versus-host disease. In this Review, we summarize the findings from studies investigating the relationship between the gut mycobiota and gastrointestinal diseases, which indicate that fungi contribute to the aggravation of the inflammatory response, leading to increased disease severity. A model explaining the mechanisms underlying the role of the mycobiota in gastrointestinal diseases is also presented. Our understanding of the contribution of the mycobiota to health and disease is still in its infancy and leaves a number of questions to be addressed. Answering these questions might lead to novel approaches to prevent and/or manage acute as well as chronic gastrointestinal disease.
Centre for Medical Mycology, University Hospitals Case Medical Centre, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-5028, USA.
Pranab K
PK
Mukherjee
Inserm U995, Université Lille 2, Faculté de Médecine H. Warembourg, Pôle Recherche, Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, CHRU de Lille, Place Verdun, 59037 Lille, France.
Boualem
B
Sendid
Inserm U995, Université Lille 2, Faculté de Médecine H. Warembourg, Pôle Recherche, Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, CHRU de Lille, Place Verdun, 59037 Lille, France.
Gautier
G
Hoarau
Department of Gastroenterology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA.
Jean-Frédéric
JF
Colombel
Inserm U995, Université Lille 2, Faculté de Médecine H. Warembourg, Pôle Recherche, Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, CHRU de Lille, Place Verdun, 59037 Lille, France.
Daniel
D
Poulain
Centre for Medical Mycology, University Hospitals Case Medical Centre, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-5028, USA.
Mahmoud A
MA
Ghannoum
D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D005658:Fungi / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D056265:Microbial Interactions / Q000502:physiology; D064307:Microbiota / Q000502:physiology*; D009181:Mycoses / Q000150:complications