Review and Role of Gastrointestinal Bacteriophages in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term used to describe a disease that causes chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. This disease, which is a type of digestive system disease, is often confused with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Whereas irritable bowel syndrome (IBD) is a more serious disease that has several complications, including damage to the intestine and malnutrition.Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are two major forms of inflammatory bowel diseases, and other types of inflammatory bowel diseases include lymphocytic colitis and collagenous colitis. If internists are unable to distinguish between these two main types of inflammatory bowel disease, the disease is classified as indeterminate colitis. The gut microbiome contributes to IBD pathology through multiple mechanisms. Bacteriophages (hereafter termed phages) are viruses that are able to specifically infect bacteria. Considered as part of the gut microbiome, phages may impact the bacterial community structure in various clinical contexts. Additionally, exogenous phage administration may represent a means of suppressing IBD-associated pathobionts; however, the utilization of phage therapy remains at an early developmental phase. Although the molecular mechanisms governing the pathogenesis of IBD are not completely clear, the main factors are presumed to be a complex interaction between genetic predisposition, host immune response and environmental exposure, especially the intestinal microbiome . Currently, most studies have focused on the role of gut bacteria in the onset and development of IBD, whereas little attention has been paid to the enteroviruses. Among of them, viruses that infect prokaryotes, called bacteriophages (phages) occupy the majority (۹۰%) in population. Moreover, several recent studies have reported the capability of regulating the bacterial population in the gut, and the direct and indirect influence on host immune response. The present review highlights the roles of gut phages in IBD pathogenesis and explores the potentiality of phages as a therapeutic target for IBD treatment.

کلیدواژه ها:

Bacteriophages ، Crohn's disease ، Inflammatory bowel disease ، Microbiome ، Microbiota ، Phages ، Ulcerative colitis