Zhu LB, Zhang YC, Huang HH, Lin J. Prospects for clinical applications of butyrate-producing bacteria. World J Clin Pediatr 2021; 10(5): 84-92 [PMID: 34616650 DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.v10.i5.84]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Jing Lin, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, United States. jing.lin@mssm.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Pediatrics
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Pediatr. Sep 9, 2021; 10(5): 84-92 Published online Sep 9, 2021. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v10.i5.84
Prospects for clinical applications of butyrate-producing bacteria
Li-Bin Zhu, Yu-Chen Zhang, Han-Hui Huang, Jing Lin
Li-Bin Zhu, Department of Pediatric Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325027, Zhejiang Province, China
Yu-Chen Zhang, Han-Hui Huang, Department of Pediatric Surgery, The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325027, Zhejiang Province, China
Jing Lin, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, United States
Author contributions: Zhu LB drafted the first version of the manuscript; Zhang YC and Huang HH contributed the writing of the draft; Lin J conceptualized the initial idea, revised and finalized the manuscript.
Supported byMedical and Health Science and Technology Plan of Zhejiang Province, No. 2018KY128.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jing Lin, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, United States. jing.lin@mssm.edu
Received: February 5, 2021 Peer-review started: February 5, 2021 First decision: March 31, 2021 Revised: April 13, 2021 Accepted: August 24, 2021 Article in press: August 24, 2021 Published online: September 9, 2021
Abstract
As the major source of energy for colonic mucosal cells and as an important regulator of gene expression, inflammation, differentiation, and apoptosis in host cells, microbiota-derived butyrate can enhance the intestinal mucosal immune barrier, modulate systemic immune response, and prevent infections. Maintaining a certain level of butyrate production in the gut can help balance intestinal microbiota, regulate host immune response, and promote the development and maintenance of the intestinal mucosal barrier. Butyrate-producing bacteria act as probiotics and play important roles in a variety of normal biological functions. Bacteriotherapeutic supplementation by using fecal microbiota transplantation to restore butyrate-producing commensal bacteria in the gut has been very successful in the treatment of recurrent and refractory Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection or C. difficile-negative nosocomial diarrhea. Administration of probiotics that include butyrate-producing bacteria may have a role in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases and in the prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis and late-onset sepsis in premature infants. Furthermore, modulating gut microbiota with dietary approaches may improve intestinal dysbiosis commonly seen in patients with obesity-associated metabolic disorders. Supplementation with a butyrate-producing bacterial stain might be used to increase energy expenditure, improve insulin sensitivity, and to help control obesity and metabolic syndrome.
Core Tip: This minireview summarizes the potential clinical applications of butyrate-producing bacteria in disorders related to pediatrics and possible underlying mechanisms. Acting as probiotics, butyrate-producing bacteria play important roles in a variety of normal biological functions that include balancing gut microbiota, maintaining the mucosal barrier, modulating the host immune response, preventing infections, and regulating energy expenditure. Therefore, butyrate-producing bacteria may have a potential therapeutic value in a wide range of clinical conditions associated with intestinal dysbiosis such as inflammatory bowel disease, necrotizing enterocolitis, late-onset sepsis in the premature infant, nosocomial diarrhea, and obesity-associated metabolic disorders.
