Clinical application of gut microbiota metabolites: A novel opportunity in personalized medicine

Nowadays, metabolomics studies are performed with different approaches to identify biomarkers, clarify the underlying mechanisms of diseases and achieve novel treatment strategies. In this context, gut microbiota-derived metabolites are known as one of the most important mediators of gut microbiota effects on human health and various diseases. Due to the inefficiency of conventional therapies in some cases, personalized medicine is of great clinical importance. Recent studies have shown that alterations in gut microbiota metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), amino acids, bile acid metabolites, and choline metabolites can link gut microbiota to numerous chronic non-communicable diseases including obesity, diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases, psychological disorders, cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Understanding the composition of gut microbiota and the relationship between its derived-metabolites and the occurrence of various diseases is necessary to achieve new clinical applications. Furthermore, potential therapeutic agents such as prebiotic supplements and next-generation probiotics, dietary interventions, antibiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) could be among the leading strategies for personalized medicine in prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, via modulating the diversity and composition of gut microbiota and its metabolites.