title: The human microbiome: opportunities and challenges for clinical care.
abstract: There is a growing appreciation of the importance of the human microbiome to our normal physiology. This complex microbial ecosystem plays a range of roles, including influencing the development and function of our immune systems, providing essential nutrients, regulating metabolism and protecting us from opportunistic infections. Our increasing understanding of these processes is due, to a large extent, to the development of high-throughput sequencing technologies, providing for the first time a means by which complex microbial dynamics can be detailed. There is also a growing recognition that disruption of commensal microbiota, a phenomenon known as dysbiosis, is associated with several common disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease, type 2 diabetes and oncogenesis. Further, where innate immunity fails to protect us, the microbial communities that colonise the external surfaces of our bodies represent a ready source of infection. This review discusses the mechanisms that govern our interaction with our resident microbiota, both in health and disease, the technological advances that allow us to gain insight into these relationships, and the way in which our growing understanding can inform clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Microbiome Research, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute Infection and Immunity Theme, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D064806:Dysbiosis / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D056186:Metagenomics / Q000639:trends*; D064307:Microbiota / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents
keywords: dysbiosis; infection; microbiota