Human Metabolism from a Microbial Perspective

The is currently great interest in the role of the gut microbiome in health and in the aetiopathogenesis of a variety of human diseases. In particular as a result of close co-evolutionary history and host genome reduction the microbiome co-regulates host metabolic and physiological processes and profoundly influences human health. The microbial modulation of host metabolic phenotype is closely linked to disease risk and response factors at the personal and public health level and future personalised health strategies need to incorporate appropriate aspects of microbiome variation at the individual level. The complexity of the microbiome-mammalian-metabolic axis will be illustrated with respect to diverse human diseases and the possibilities of modulating the co-regulatory interactions as part of new drug targetting paradigms will be discussed.