Crosstalk Between Microbiota, Microbial Metabolites, and Interferons in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Gut

Vi To Diep Vu; Ramsha Mahmood; Heather K Armstrong; Deanna M Santer

doi:10.1093/jcag/gwad044

Crosstalk Between Microbiota, Microbial Metabolites, and Interferons in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Gut

J Can Assoc Gastroenterol. 2023 Dec 25;7(1):78-87. doi: 10.1093/jcag/gwad044. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Authors

Vi To Diep Vu^{1

2

3

4}, Ramsha Mahmood^{1

2

3

4}, Heather K Armstrong^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Deanna M Santer^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, 429 Apotex Centre, Winnipeg, MB, R3E 0T5Canada.
² Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, University of Manitoba, 715 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3E 3P4Canada.
³ Manitoba IBD Clinical and Research Centre, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, 820 Sherbrook St, MB, R3A 1R9Canada.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Manitoba Center for Proteomics and System Biology, University of Manitoba, 715 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg, MB, R3E 3P4Canada.
⁵ Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, 745 Bannatyne Ave, Winnipeg, MB, R3E 0J9Canada.
⁶ Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba, 35 Chancellor's Circle, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2Canada.

Abstract

With the prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) continuing to rise in Canada and globally, developing improved therapeutics that successfully treat greater percentages of patients with reduced complications is paramount. A better understanding of pertinent immune pathways in IBD will improve our ability to both successfully dampen inflammation and promote gut healing, beyond just inhibiting specific immune proteins; success of combination therapies supports this approach. Interferons (IFNs) are key cytokines that protect mucosal barrier surfaces, and their roles in regulating gut homeostasis and inflammation differ between the three IFN families (type I, II, and III). Interestingly, the gut microbiota and microbial metabolites impact IFN-signaling, yet how this system is impacted in IBD remains unclear. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge of how gut microbiota directly or indirectly impact IFN levels/responses, and what is known about IFNs differentially regulating gut homeostasis and inflammation in animal models or patients with IBD.

Publication types

Review