25-01-2017 | Microbiome | Article
The Intestinal Microbiome, the Immune System and Spondyloarthropathy
Authors: Mary-Ellen Costello, Matthew A. Brown
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Abstract
The microbial communities that live in and on our bodies play complex roles in maintaining our health and in causing disease. The recent application of high-throughput DNA sequencing to examine these communities, both in terms of species present and in their activities, has proven to be a very powerful tool for examining the influences of microbes on human health. Whilst we are only just beginning to understand the role of our microbial ‘second’ genome, what is clear is that certain shifts and alterations in our microbiome are associated with, and may ultimately cause or cure, disease. The interaction between human host and microbes is multifaceted, however, and such interactions must therefore be examined in overall context of disease, diet, medications as well as underlying host genetics.