Microbiome

The varied community of microorganisms that live in different parts of the body, particularly the gut, is referred to as the human microbiome. These microorganisms are mostly bacteria, but they can also be viruses, fungi, and archaea. These microbial communities are vital for immune regulation, nutrition synthesis, digestion, and pathogen defense. Metagenomics research has shown that homeostasis depends on a healthy, diverse microbiome, whereas dysbiosis, or imbalances in the microbiome, is linked to a variety of illnesses, such as obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies, and neuropsychiatric disorders. The field of microbiome research is growing quickly, providing new information on diet-microbe interactions, probiotic treatments, and personalized medicine.

The Gut–Brain–Skin Axis: How Diet and Gut Health Influence Mood, Skin, and Aging

How microbial metabolites from everyday foods connect the gut, brain, and skin to influence inflammation, emotional health, and the biology of aging.

Disease Susceptibility and the Microbiome

Fecal Microbiota Transplant

What Role Does the Immune System and Microbiome Play in Health and Disease?

Fecal Microbiota Transplant Regulation

Parkinson's Disease and the Gut Microbiome

Is There a Brain Microbiome?

The Microbiome and Aging

Achievements of the Human Microbiome Project

Menopause and the Microbiome

Can you Treat a Food Allergy by Altering the Gut Microbiome?

Drug Metabolism and Microbiome

See more featured articles »

Effects of a Gluten-Free Diet on the Gut Microbiota

How “Fad” Diets Affect the Gut Microbiota

How Does Your Diet Affect your Gut Microbiome?

Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs) and the Microbiome

Fermented Foods and Gut Health

Gut Bacteria and Autism Development

Oral Microbiota

Insight into the Skin Microbiome

Is There a Link Between Migraine and the Gut Microbiome?

Fecal Microbiota Transplant Technique

Risk Factors for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth

Human Microbiome

Microbiome-Host Cell Interactions

Microbiome and Cancer

How Artificial Sweeteners Disrupt the Gut Microbiome, Or Do They?

Is Coffee Good for the Gut?

Genetic Factors that Influence Bacterial Diversity in the Human Gut

Alzheimer's Disease and the Microbiome

The Effect of Intermittent Fasting on the Gut Microbiome

Vaginal Microbiome and Premature Birth

Skin Microbiota

Antibiotics and the Microbiome

What Role do Microbiomes Play in Urinary Tract Infections?

Does the Microbiome Interact with the Human Endocrine System?

Gut Microbiota

Microbiome and Disease

What is Vaginal Microbiome?

Human Microbiome Project (HMP)

Ovarian Microbiome Overview: Fertility, PCOS, and the Gut–Ovary Axis

Conjunctiva microbiota

Do Serotonin and Antidepressants Affect the Microbiome?

What is the Human Virome?

How Does the Diet Impact Microbiota?

Scalp Microbiome Explained: What’s Living on Your Scalp and Why It Matters

The Microbiome of a Newborn

Latest Microbiome News and Research

Poop pills could help cancer patients respond to immunotherapy while reducing toxic side effects

Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), can dramatically improve cancer treatment, suggest two groundbreaking studies published in the prestigious Nature Medicine journal.

28 Jan 2026

Gut problems may shape Parkinson’s disease progression through the gut-brain axis

This narrative review examines how gastrointestinal dysfunction, gut dysbiosis, and altered gut-brain axis signaling are closely associated with the onset and progression of Parkinson’s disease. It synthesizes evidence supporting a possible bottom-up disease model while highlighting integrative, gut-targeted strategies as adjuncts to symptom management rather than proven disease-modifying therapies.

27 Jan 2026

How modern lifestyles reprogram the gut microbiome and shape disease risk

Modern lifestyle factors such as circadian disruption, sleep deprivation, stress, and exercise reshape the gut bacteriome and its metabolic outputs. These microbiome changes are linked to immune, metabolic, and cancer-related pathways, largely through evidence from animal models and observational human studies.

27 Jan 2026

Why eating more oats can rapidly reduce cholesterol levels

Oat consumption boosts gut microbiota-derived phenolic metabolites, driving cholesterol-lowering effects and improving lipid metabolism in metabolic syndrome.

27 Jan 2026

Olive oil type matters for cognition and gut health in older adults

Higher intake of virgin and total olive oil was associated with modest but significant improvements in cognitive performance over two years in older adults with metabolic syndrome. These associations were partly linked to gut microbiota composition, with specific taxa such as Adlercreutzia contributing a small mediating effect.

26 Jan 2026

Tiny plastic particles may interfere with brain processes implicated in Parkinson’s disease

Micro- and nanoplastics are increasingly detected in human tissues, including the brain, and experimental evidence suggests they can interact with biological pathways central to Parkinson’s disease pathology. This review synthesises mechanistic data indicating that plastic particles may influence protein aggregation, neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and the gut–brain axis, while emphasising the need for prospective human studies.

26 Jan 2026

Evidence links gut microbiome changes to Alzheimer’s progression

Human studies consistently report gut microbiome differences in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, but findings vary widely by cohort, methods, and taxa. Heterogeneity and limited longitudinal data prevent causal inference, highlighting the need for functional profiling and well-designed intervention trials.

25 Jan 2026

Microbiome differences distinguish preterm infants with parenteral nutrition-associated cholestasis

24 Jan 2026

PTPN2 gene protects the gut from harmful bacteria driving inflammatory bowel disease

Two recent studies from the University of California, Riverside, published in the same issue of Gut Microbes highlight the role of a gene called PTPN2 in protecting the gut from harmful bacteria linked to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

24 Jan 2026

Unraveling liver injury mechanisms in familial hypobetalipoproteinemia

Familial Hypobetalipoproteinemia (FHBL), caused by variants in the apolipoprotein B (APOB) gene, is a rare autosomal co-dominant monogenic disorder characterized by lifelong low plasma levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and APOB.

24 Jan 2026

Short-term oatmeal diet improves cholesterol and metabolic health markers

A short-term oat-based diet appears to be surprisingly effective at reducing the cholesterol level. This is indicated by a trial by the University of Bonn, which has now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

23 Jan 2026

Genetic study links vitamin B1 metabolism to gut motility and IBS risk

Research links thiamine metabolism to gut motility, identifying genetic markers that could lead to new therapies for IBS and related digestive disorders.

23 Jan 2026

Chemotherapy-induced gut changes trigger anti-metastatic immune response

Chemotherapy commonly damages the intestinal lining, a well-known side effect. But this injury does not remain confined to the gut.

22 Jan 2026

High-dose inhaled nitric oxide could fight multidrug-resistant infections

Overuse of antibiotics has accelerated the development of bacterial resistance to conventional drugs, a global health crisis projected to result in more than 10 million deaths annually by 2050.

21 Jan 2026

Nutrition experts call for dietary fiber recognition as an essential nutrient

Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka nutrition experts are calling for dietary fiber to be officially recognized internationally as an essential nutrient - the first 'new' essential nutrient in more than 50 years.

21 Jan 2026

PRoRota-project aims to fight diarrhea in children using probiotics, hygiene, and models

The PRoRota-project will use probiotics, improved education in hygiene and advanced mathematical models to prevent children from dying of diarrhea in low and middle-income countries.

16 Jan 2026

Gut bacteria compound during pregnancy protects offspring from fatty liver disease

Children born to mothers who consume a high-fat, high-sugar diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding face a higher risk of developing fatty liver disease later in life.

14 Jan 2026

Bacterial metabolite enhances immune checkpoint therapy against lung cancer

UF Health Cancer Institute researchers have discovered a small compound produced naturally by gut bacteria that doubled the response to lung cancer immunotherapy treatment in mice and can now be made into a drug for testing in humans.

14 Jan 2026

Breast milk shares beneficial bacteria with babies

Researchers examine the relationship between the maternal milk microbiome and infant gut microbiome.

14 Jan 2026

Obesity study reveals gut fat's unique inflammatory role and immune cell richness

Abdominal fat is not a uniform tissue. A new study from Karolinska Institutet, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, and Helmholtz Munich reveals that fat located close to the large intestine contains an unusually high number of inflammatory fat cells and immune cells.

13 Jan 2026