Future therapies to treat disorders such as cancer and Parkinson’s developed on the principle of targeting the gut microbiome, will have to be localised and personalised for their maximum effectiveness, said Dr Yogesh Shouche, chairman, Sharpp Project, SKAN Research Trust.
Speaking at the Happiest Health’s Future of Medicine summit in Bengaluru on March 9, Dr Shouche said significant differences in the diversity of gut microbiota have been observed across different geographic regions.
“The regional and individual variations in the gut microbiome suggest that a personalised approach may be necessary for effective treatment or intervention,” Dr Shouche said. He gave the example of how people in the West are seen to have a lower diversity of gut microbiota compared to those living in rural areas in developing countries.
The gut microbiome is the community of microorganisms that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract and is a complex and diverse system. It varies in composition and function across different regions of the body such as the stomach, small intestine and colon.
Dr Shouche, who is also a professor of biology at Azim Premji University, added that variations in the gut microbiome are also influenced by factors such as diet, lifestyle, genetics, and environmental exposures, making it a unique and an individualised aspect of each person’s health.
To address this challenge he urged researchers developing therapies to explore personalised medicine approaches that consider the individual’s unique gut microbiome profile. Localisation, he said, will help to take gut-targeted treatments to rural areas, too.
For this, “Establishing biobanks in rural areas [can be] a promising strategy for improving access to probiotics and other microbiome-based therapies,” Dr Shouche added.
Gut microbiome for everyone
While treatments targeting the gut are still in the realm of research, for individuals there is no single “best” diet for good gut health. But they can maintain good health by including specific foods or supplements in their diets — such as probiotics, prebiotics, and fermented foods like yoghurt, kefir and sauerkraut.
“A diet high in fibre and diverse in plant-based foods has been associated with a more diverse gut microbiome, which may positively affect [a person’s] overall health,” explained Dr Shouche, while suggesting that processed foods be avoided.
Faecal microbiota transplantation, though a crude method of modulating the microbiome, he said, was showing good results in treating inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease and liver disease. The therapy was available at some medical facilities in India.
