Volume 17 • Number 12 • December 2016

From time to time a single medical article encapsulates the simple concepts to which I have dedicated three decades of professional work. At first I got nothing but grief trying to pass on to others what I found in smaller journals. But, now that the best of journals (J. Nature Medicine, J. Science, J. Cell, J. Gastroenterology, J. Scientific American, J. Nature, etc.,) have highlighted these concepts on their covers it is time for all doctors to apply them. Below you will find the summary of the latest thunderbolt on how important nutrition and your gut flora are. At least ponder the extraordinary implications of the abstract below. The 149 references are for those who wish to study the issue for themselves.

Pass on this issue to your other doctors.

Hugo Rodier, MD

Signals from the gut microbiota to distant organs in physiology and disease

J. Nature Medicine November 2016; 22:1079–1089

“The ecosystem of the human gut consists of trillions of bacteria forming a bioreactor that is fueled by dietary macronutrients to produce bioactive compounds. These microbiota-derived metabolites signal to distant organs in the body, which enables the gut bacteria to connect to the immune and hormone system, to the brain (the gut–brain axis) and to host metabolism, as well as other functions of the host. This microbe–host communication is essential to maintain vital functions of the healthy host. Recently, however, the gut microbiota has been associated with a number of diseases, ranging from obesity and inflammatory diseases to behavioral and physiological abnormalities associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. In this Review, we will discuss microbiota–host cross-talk and intestinal microbiome signaling to extraintestinal organs. We will review mechanisms of how this communication might contribute to host physiology and discuss how misconfigured signaling might contribute to different diseases.”

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