Eun-Sook Lee, Eun-Ji Song and Young-Do Nam
High throughput methods have increased knowledge about the epigenome and microbiome, and allowed determination of the plausible link between the gut microbiome and epigenetic modification of the host. This has shed light on the development of various diseases such as immune-mediated, metabolic, and cardiovascular diseases, and even cancer. Dysbiosis, imbalanced gut microbiome which is frequently observed in such diseases, may be involved in regulating the epigenome of the host via direct changes in the gut microbiota or indirect changes of their metabolites, which are a variety of bioactive substances such as short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), biotin, folic acid, and other bioactive molecules. Indeed, correlation between host epigenetic regulation and alteration of gut microbiota or metabolites produced by intestinal microorganisms has been reported for various diseases. Therefore, the gut microbiome could be a diagnostic marker for certain diseases, and re-balancing dysbiosis through transplantation of the healthy gut microbiome could constitute an effective therapeutic strategy. Here, we discuss the relationship between dysbiosis of gut microbiota and the host epigenome, and suggest that the microbiome and epigenome are possible targets for disease diagnostics and therapeutics
