Exposure to environmental pollutants selects for xenobiotic-degrading functions in the human gut microbiome.

ABSTRACT: Environmental pollutants from different chemical families may reach the gut microbiome, where they can be metabolized and transformed. However, how our gut symbionts respond to the exposure to environmental pollution is still underexplored. In this observational, cohort study, we aim to investigate the influence of environmental pollution on the gut microbiome composition and potential activity by shotgun metagenomics. We select as a case study a population living in a highly polluted area in Campania region (Southern Italy), proposed as an ideal field for exposomic studies and we compare the fecal microbiome of 359 subjects living in areas with high, medium and low environmental pollution. We highlight changes in gut microbiome composition and functionality that were driven by pollution e

SUBMITTER: De Filippis F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11130323 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature