五 ) State of the Art Update on the Microbiome in 2021

外賓演講（五）

STATE OF THE ART UPDATE ON THE MICROBIOME IN 2021

Emad El-Omar Microbiome Research Centre, St George & Sutherland Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

The gut microbiota play a crucial role in human health and disease, having profound influence on our metabolism and multiple effects on the innate and adaptive immune systems. Almost every organ in the body is affected by the quality, diversity and metabolic output of this microbiota. Diversity of the microbiota is a surrogate for health and loss of diversity is characteristic of many human diseases. This “dysbiosis” represents an abnormal state that predisposes to a variety of diseases by maximising the harmful effect of pathobionts and the loss of beneficial effects of symbionts. The consequences of this dysbiosis include disruption of mucosal barrier function (hyperpermeability), translocation of microorganisms and their products and initiation of a state of low-grade chronic inflammation. The past decade has seen rapid advances in understanding the role of the gut microbiome in health and disease. This is clearly most evident in the gastrointestinal tract and particularly in the context of inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal, gastric and hepatocellular cancer, and more recently, pancreatic cancer. With its direct impact on the host’s immune repertoire, metabolic networks and neuroendocrine pathways, the microbiome also exerts profound modulatory effects on almost every system within the human body. During this lecture, we will discuss the latest advances in understanding of these effects, their relationships to GI and non-GI diseases and their full impact on human health. We will also discuss future directions of research in this exciting and fast evolving medical and scientific revolution.