Mining the human intestinal microbiota for biomarkers associated with metabolic disorders

All through most of human history we have predominantly felt at war with microorganisms. Small pox, measles, bubonic plague, lepra, cholera, typhoid are just a few important examples of viral and bacterial agents that have been mostly eliminated in the Western world, while modem day infectious diseases include malaria (protozoan) and HIVAIDS (viral), and worldwide tuberculosis (bacterial) still causes nearly 2 million deaths every year. The field of microbiology developed in response to the need to conquer these pathogens and eradicate infectious diseases from society, which led to important discoveries such as Louis Pasteur’s “germ theory of disease”. But a new understanding is emerging in which the metaphor for war and quote from Paul Verhoeven’s Starship troopers “the only good bug is a dead bug” is no longer appropriate, as this approach ignores the community context of infectious disease. Instead, we now view the host and its microbial community as a mutualistic coevolved system. In fact, microorganisms are everywhere and the vast majority of those that we come into contact with are not infectious, but rather harmless or even beneficial. For instance, microorganisms help the host with digestion by degrading nondigestible plant polysaccharides, which are converted into Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA) that provide energy for our metabolism. More importantly, the SCFA butyrate is the main source of energy for the intestinal epithelium in mammals1.

human intestinal microbiota for biomarkers associated with metabolic disorders Mining the human intestinal microbiota for biomarkers associated with metabolic disorders Mining the Gerben Hermes Gerben Hermes 0LQLQJWKHKXPDQLQWHVWLQDOPLFURELRWDIRUELRPDUNHUV DVVRFLDWHGZLWKPHWDEROLFGLVRUGHUV *HUEHQ+HUPHV Thesis committee Promotor Prof Dr H Smidt Personal Chair at the Laboratory of Microbiology Wageningen University Co-promotor Dr E.G Zoetendal Associate professor, Laboratory of Microbiology Wageningen University Other members Prof Dr B.J.M Witteman, Wageningen University Dr A Mercenier, Nestlé, Lausanne, Switzerland Dr A Zhernakova, M.D., University Medical Centre Groningen Dr W van Schaik, University Medical Centre Utrecht This research was conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School VLAG (Advanced studies in Food Technology, Agrobiotechnology, Nutrition and Health Sciences) Mining the human intestinal microbiota for biomarkers associated with metabolic disorders Gerben Hermes 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