Metabolomic Discovery of Microbiota Dysfunction as the Cause of Pathology

Abstract

In the twenty-first century, metabolomics allowed evaluating the profile of metabolites of various classes of compounds in the human body. The most important achievement of the metabolic approach is to obtain evidence of the intersection of human biochemical pathways and its microbiota. The effect of certain microbial metabolites on the work of key enzymes involved in the biotransformation of amino acids and other substances becomes more important in patients at risk of developing neurological and mental disorders and also contributes to the development of life-threatening conditions up to multiple organ failure after operations, injuries, and serious diseases. The authors of this chapter call the microbiota an “invisible organ,” emphasizing its functional significance, and not just taxonomy, as previously thought. This chapter will discuss the mutually beneficial integration of the metabolome/microbiome in the body of healthy people and will focus on the effects of microbiota dysfunction