How informative is the mouse for human gut microbiota research?

By Thi Loan Anh Nguyen, Sara Vieira-Silva, A. Liston, Jeroen Raes. Disease Models & Mechanisms, 2015

1,234 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The microbiota of the human gut is gaining broad attention owing to its association with a wide range of diseases, ranging from metabolic disorders (e.g. obesity and type 2 diabetes) to autoimmune diseases (such as inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes), cancer and even neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. autism). Having been increasingly used in biomedical research, mice have become the model of choice for most studies in this emerging field. Mouse models allow perturbations in gut microbiota to be studied in a controlled experimental setup, and thus help in assessing causality of the complex host-microbiota interactions and in developing mechanistic hypotheses. However, pitfalls should be considered when translating gut microbiome research results from mouse models to humans. In this Special Article, we discuss the intrinsic similarities and differences that exist between the two systems, and compare the human and murine core gut microbiota based on a meta-analysis of currently available datasets. Finally, we discuss the external factors that influence the capability of mouse models to recapitulate the gut microbiota shifts associated with human diseases, and investigate which alternative model systems exist for gut microbiota research.

Subfields: Gastroenterology, Infectious Diseases, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/5eab6abb229df59b4cb1c6487e1bff3fa5ea26ea

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Gastroenterology

1. J. Cryan
2. Ted G. Dinan
3. G. Clarke
4. P. Kennedy
5. C. Stanton
6. Jeroen Raes
7. J. Foster

In Infectious Diseases

1. Y. Taur
2. Eric G. Pamer
3. Ted G. Dinan
4. C. Stanton
5. G. Clarke
6. J. Cryan

In Molecular Biology

1. J. Cryan
2. Ted G. Dinan
3. G. Clarke
4. C. Stanton
5. P. Kennedy
6. Y. Borre
7. J. R. Kelly
8. Peer Bork

Citations in the corpus

• Transferring the blues: Depression-associated gut microbiota induces neurobehavioural changes in the rat. (2016, background): “Given, the fact that the rodent and human microbiota are different (Nguyen et al., 2015) and the inherent translational challenges in moving from rodent to man, it is perhaps not surprising that overlap of specific taxa are not reflected in the rat microbiota following the FMT.”
• The Human Gut Microbiome: From Association to Modulation. (2018, background): “In consequence, many perturbation studies have been conducted in mouse models which allow control of host effects to some extent, in spite of other limitations (Nguyen et al., 2015).”
• Stress & the gut-brain axis: Regulation by the microbiome (2017, neutral): “Nevertheless, GF mice provide a platform onwhich to explore the role of bacteria on early host development and function (Nguyen et al., 2015; Al-Asmakh and Zadjali, 2015; Faith et al., 2010; Arrieta et al., 2014).”
• Gut instincts: microbiota as a key regulator of brain development, ageing and neurodegeneration (2017, background): “This is especially true with regards to the marked alterations in the immune system and gastrointestinal tract and in terms of lacking any true clinical translation (Nguyen et al. 2015; Al-Asmakh & Zadjali, 2015; Arrieta et al. 2016).”
• Antibiotic-Induced Changes in the Intestinal Microbiota and Disease. (2016, background): “Some genera such as Prevotella, Faecalibacterium, and Ruminococcus are abundant in humans, while others, namely Lactobacillus, Alistipes, and Turicibacter, are highly prevalent in mice [131].”