肠道菌群与人体免疫系统相关性研究方兴未艾

New Insights into Research on the Role of Gut Microbiota in Human Immune System

肠道菌群作为人体中数量众多的异种成分,与人体免疫系统有着复杂的双向作用。一方面,菌群和人体的共生依赖于免疫耐受形成;另一方面肠道相关免疫组织的发育和免疫细胞的激活亦受到源自菌群的异源性信号密切调控。因此,肠道菌群对于正常免疫系统的建立至关重要,反之,免疫系统的改变亦可能造成肠道菌群紊乱,二者之间的相互作用发生异常可能影响局部乃至全身免疫系统,进而参与系统性炎症性疾病、自身免疫性疾病以及肿瘤的发病机制。有临床研究表明,益生菌补充和健康人粪菌移植联合传统免疫治疗能够提高耐药患者的疗效,提示肠道菌群可能是潜在的重要治疗靶点,因此了解肠道菌群在人体免疫中的作用非常重要。

Gut microbiota, as a significant exogenous constituent in the human body, has sophisticated reciprocal interactions with the immune system. On the one hand, the symbiosis between microbiota and human hosts relies on the build-up of immune tolerance against microbes. While on the other, the exogenous microbial signals from microbiota tightly regulate the development of gut-associated lymphoid tissues and priming of immune cells. Alterations of the immune system per se might also disrupt the construction of microbiota. Furthermore, dysfunction of the crosstalk between gut microbiota and the immune system could possibly contribute to both local and systemic diseases, including inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancers. Clinical studies have shed light on the therapeutic strategies exploiting microbiota, such as supplementation of probiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation in combination with conventional immunotherapy, which achieved improved outcomes in certain diseases. Hence, a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the immunological function of gut microbiota is becoming increasingly substantial and critical.