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The Colonic Microbiota and Colonic Disease

  • Large Intestine (B Cash, Section Editor)
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Abstract

The colonic ecosystem differs from that in the proximal gut in several important respects. The colonic microbiota represents the largest population of microbes colonizing humans from birth. Constraints on bacterial numbers, composition, and interaction with the host involve not only the innate and acquired immune system, but also the colonic mucin structure. While the microbiota provides beneficial protective, trophic, nutritional, and metabolic signals for the host, it may become a risk factor for disease depending on context and host susceptibility. Technological advances including DNA-based high-throughput compositional analysis have linked changes in the indigenous microbiota with several human diseases. In some instances, these findings have the potential to serve as new biomarkers of risk of disease. In this overview, recent advances are focused upon in relation to irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and colon cancer. The possibility that the therapeutic solution to some of these disorders may reside within the microbiota will also be addressed.

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Acknowledgement

The author is supported, in part, by Science Foundation Ireland, and by grants from Alimentary Health Ltd and GlaxoSmithKline Ltd. The content of this article was neither influenced nor constrained by these facts.

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Dr. F. Shanahan has received grant support for his institution from the Science Foundation Ireland.

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  1. Department of Medicine and Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

    Fergus Shanahan

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Shanahan, F. The Colonic Microbiota and Colonic Disease. Curr Gastroenterol Rep 14, 446–452 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11894-012-0281-5

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