Gut Microbiome and Immune System Crosstalk in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities

Author: mycolabadmin
10/31/2025
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Summary

Your gut contains trillions of bacteria that play a crucial role in keeping your immune system balanced. When this bacterial community becomes imbalanced (dysbiosis), it can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases like arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and lupus. Recent research shows that restoring a healthy gut microbiota through diet, probiotics, prebiotics, or fecal transplants may help treat these conditions by reducing inflammation and strengthening the gut barrier.

Background

The gut microbiota, comprising trillions of microorganisms, plays a vital role in maintaining host health and regulating physiological functions. Dysbiosis, or disruption of the microbial community, can compromise epithelial barrier integrity and trigger aberrant immune activation. The gut microbiota is increasingly recognized as a key modulator of immune homeostasis influencing both local and systemic inflammatory processes in chronic inflammatory diseases.

Objective

This narrative review synthesizes recent research on the role of gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of six representative chronic inflammatory diseases: rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus, asthma, and vasculitis. The review aims to provide insights into microbiota-based therapeutic opportunities and mechanisms of gut microbiota-immune interactions.

Results

The review identifies multiple mechanisms through which dysbiosis contributes to chronic inflammation including compromised epithelial barrier integrity, altered immune cell function, molecular mimicry, and production of proinflammatory metabolites. Evidence supports therapeutic potential of dietary modifications, probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation in managing these diseases, though most studies remain exploratory.

Conclusion

Understanding mechanisms underlying gut microbiota-immune interactions offers new avenues for therapeutic interventions in chronic inflammatory diseases. Microbiota-targeted therapies show promise but require larger-scale validation. Future research should focus on longitudinal studies, personalized interventions based on individual microbiota profiles, and clinical trials to establish efficacy.

Published in:Microorganisms,
Study Type:Narrative Review,
Source: PMID: 41304202, DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms13112516