title: Human gut microbiota plays a role in the metabolism of drugs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The gut microbiome, an aggregate genome of trillions of microorganisms residing in the human gastrointestinal tract, is now known to play a critical role in human health and predisposition to disease. It is also involved in the biotransformation of xenobiotics and several recent studies have shown that the gut microbiota can affect the pharmacokinetics of orally taken drugs with implications for their oral bioavailability.
  
  
  METHODS
  Review of Pubmed, Web of Science and Science Direct databases for the years 1957-2016.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recent studies make it clear that the human gut microbiota can play a major role in the metabolism of xenobiotics and, the stability and oral bioavailability of drugs. Over the past 50 years, more than 30 drugs have been identified as a substrate for intestinal bacteria. Questions concerning the impact of the gut microbiota on drug metabolism, remain unanswered or only partially answered, namely (i) what are the molecular mechanisms and which bacterial species are involved? (ii) What is the impact of host genotype and environmental factors on the composition and function of the gut microbiota, (iii) To what extent is the composition of the intestinal microbiome stable, transmissible, and resilient to perturbation? (iv) Has past exposure to a given drug any impact on future microbial response, and, if so, for how long? Answering such questions should be an integral part of pharmaceutical research and personalised health care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and Faculty Hospital Olomouc, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jourova
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and Faculty Hospital Olomouc, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anzenbacher
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and Faculty Hospital Olomouc, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Anzenbacherova
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D001682:Biological Availability; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000378:metabolism; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006868:Hydrolysis; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D015262:Xenobiotics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D015262:Xenobiotics; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System
keywords: bioavailability; cytochromes P450; gut microbiota; metabolism of drugs; microbiome