肠道菌群与物质成瘾的关系及研究进展

Relationship between gut microbiota and substance addiction and its research progress

定殖于人体的微生物种群(微生物群)影响几乎所有器官系统,并与疾病的抵抗力和易感性有关。微生物群所包含的基因组的总和被称为微生物组。目前,研究微生物群主要是通过对微生物群特定基因或宏基因组进行测序,分析微生物群或微生物组所包含的物种及其丰度和功能,确定微生物种群的结构、多样性、进化关系、生物学及医学意义以及其与环境的相互作用。人类肠道微生物群可以简称为肠道菌群,是指人类肠道内生活的微生物种群,包括细菌、真菌和病毒(噬菌体)等。目前的研究表明,肠道菌群与人体健康密切相关,其影响范围远远不止于消化系统,还涉及免疫系统、心血管系统、神经系统等多个方面。物质成瘾是慢性复发性脑疾病,以对成瘾物质的持续渴求和强迫用药为特点,可以引起肠道菌群改变。本文拟通过探讨肠道菌群与酒精、可卡因、阿片、甲基苯丙胺等成瘾物质的关系,说明干预肠道菌群影响大脑的结构和功能,有可能成为治疗物质成瘾的新途径。

Microbiota is the entire collection of microorganisms in a specific niche,such as the human gut.It impacts almost all organ systems and is related to disease resistance and susceptibility of the host.The microbiome refers to all of the genetic material within a microbiota.Microbiota is studied by means of sequencing specific genes or metagenomes;analyzing the species and their abundance and function;and determining the structure,diversity,evolutionary relationships,biological and medical significance,and their interactions with the environment of the microbiota.Human gut microbiota refers to that living in the human intestinal tract,including bacteria,fungi and viruses(bacteriophages).Current studies show that gut microbiota is closely related to human health,and its influence scope is far beyond the digestive system,but also involves the immune system,cardiovascular system,nervous system and other aspects.Substance addiction,a chronic recurrent brain disease,is characterized by persistent craving for addictive substances and forced drug use,which can cause changes in gut microbiota.We intend to discuss the relationship of gut microbiota with alcohol,cocaine,opioids,methamphetamine and other addictive substances,indicating that intervention in gut microbiota,which affects the structure and function of the brain,may become a new way to treat substance addiction.