Gut microbiota and female health
Mengyao Wang, Li-Xuan Sang, Siyu Sun
Abstract
The gut microbiota is recognized as an endocrine organ with the capacity to influence distant organs and associated biological pathways. Recent advancements underscore the critical role of gut microbial homeostasis in female health; with dysbiosis potentially leading to diseases among women such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and ovarian cancer etc. Despite this, there has been limited discussion on the underlying mechanisms. This editorial explores the three potential mechanisms through which gut microbiota dysbiosis may impact the development of diseases among women, namely, the immune system, the gut microbiota-estrogen axis, and the metabolite pathway. We focused on approaches for treating diseases in women by addressing gut microbiota imbalances through probiotics, prebiotics supplementation, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Future studies should focus on determining the molecular mechanisms underlying associations between dysbiosis of gut microbiota and female diseases to realize precision medicine, with FMT emerging as a promising intervention.