The fingerprint of the human gastrointestinal tract microbiota: a hypothesis of molecular mapping.
The precise etiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IDB) remains unclear and several factors are believed to play a role in its development and progression, including the composition of microbial communities resident in the gastrointestinal tract. Human intestinal microbiota are extensive with at least 15,000-36,000 bacterial species. However, thanks to the new development in sequencing and molecular taxonomic methodologies, our understanding of the microbiota population composition, dynamics, and ecology has greatly increased. Intestinal microbiota play a critical role in the maintenance of the host intestinal barrier homeostasis, while dysbiosis, which involves reduction in the microbiome diversity, can lead to progression of inflammatory disorders, such as IBD and colorectal cancer. It is hypothesized that fingerprinting characterization of the microbiota community composition is the first step in the study of this complex bacterial ecosystem and a crucial step in the targeted therapy. Molecular fingerprinting of human gastrointestinal tract microbiota could be performed by different techniques including the semi quantitation, 16SrRNA, the DNA- microarray as well as other relatively new methods which were developed to study many complex bacterial ecosystems. These techniques provide individual data and profiles, using fast and sensitive tools for the high taxonomic level fingerprint of the human intestinal microbiota and provide estimation of the relative presence of the microbial target groups within each individual. Such personalized information serves as a remarkable and unprecedented opportunity to improve targeted medical treatment and probably develop strategies to prevent disease.
Euro-Mediterranean Institute of Science and Technology (IEMEST), Italy.|AOUP “P. Giaccone”, School of Medicine, University of Palermo, Italy.|Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Palermo, Italy.
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Tomasello
Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
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Mazzola
Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
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Jurjus
Euro-Mediterranean Institute of Science and Technology (IEMEST), Italy.|Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Palermo, Italy.
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Cappello
Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Palermo, Italy.
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Carini
AOUP “P. Giaccone”, School of Medicine, University of Palermo, Italy.
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Damiani
Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
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Gerges Geagea
AOUP “P. Giaccone”, School of Medicine, University of Palermo, Italy.|Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
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Zeenny
Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Section of Histology, University of Palermo, Italy.
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Leone
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / Q000379:methods*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods*; D064806:Dysbiosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000235:genetics*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D057285:Precision Medicine; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S