New gut microbiome atlas could offer better treatment for digestive disorders

The new Human Gut Microbiome Atlas could help treat conditions including IBS and AMR

Researchers from King’s College London (KCL) have developed a new gut microbiome atlas in collaboration with MetaGenoPolis and the Science for Life Laboratory to help better understand how microorganisms in the gut impact disease.

Published in Genome Research, the Human Gut Microbiome Atlas, which identifies gut bacteria in people with 23 separate diseases across 19 countries, could lead to more effective treatments for conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBS).

The human gut microbiome provides an individual profile of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in the gut, which helps perform key bodily functions, including digestion.

However, fragmented data existing on the genetic makeup of individual microbes in the gut has prevented large-scale comparative studies and doctors from tailoring treatment to work with the specific microbiome of patients.

After performing a survey of genetic data from over 6,000 human gut microbiome samples across North America, Europe and South and East Asia, researchers used machine learning models to identify which gut bacteria appeared most frequently in healthy individuals as well as those with specific diseases, tagging specific functions to certain bacteria.

Researchers believe that this data could help diagnose and provide individual pathways to treat illnesses, including colorectal cancer and Crohn’s disease.

Dr Saeed Shoaie, senior lecturer, systems and synthetic biology, KCL, commented: “This [Human Gut Microbiome Atlas] will allow healthcare professionals to identify and diagnose diseases with greater clarity and implement effective treatments that target areas of the microbiome, like dietary modifications or even microbiome transplants.”

Researchers hope to expand their work to produce oral and skin microbiome atlases to treat illnesses including eczema and psoriasis, as well as to trace antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is projected to kill more than ten million people a year by 2050, in the gut.

In doing so, the team hopes to improve and assess the efficacy of efforts to treat disease and determine which gut bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics within global populations to combat AMR.