The gut virome and human health: From diversity to personalized medicine

Abstract

The human gut virome plays a crucial role in the gut and overall health; its diversity and regulatory functions influence bacterial populations, metabolism, and immune responses. Bacteriophages (phages) and eukaryotic viruses within the gut microbiome contribute to these processes, and recent advancements in sequencing technologies and bioinformatics have greatly expanded our understanding of the gut virome. These advances have led to the development of phage-based therapeutics, diagnostics, and artificial intelligence-driven precision medicine. The emerging field of phageomics shows promise for delivering personalized phage therapies that combat antimicrobial resistance by specifically targeting pathogenic bacteria while preserving beneficial microbes. Moreover, CRISPR-Cas systems delivered via phages have shown success in selectively targeting antibiotic resistance genes and enhancing treatment effectiveness. Phage-based diagnostics are highly sensitive in detecting bacterial pathogens, offering significant benefits for human health and zoonotic disease surveillance. This synthesis of the current knowledge highlights the pivotal role of the gut virome in regulating microbial communities and its transformative potential in personalized medicine, emphasizing its importance in advancing therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for improving health outcomes.

Keywords

Gut virome / Bacteriophage / Dysbiosis / Phage therapy / Fecal virome transplantation / CRISPR-Cas system

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Rahul Harikumar Lathakumari: Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft, Visualization, Validation, Resources, Methodology, Data curation, Conceptualization. Leela Kakithakara Vajravelu: Visualization, Validation, Supervision. Anusha Gopinathan: Visualization, Validation, Supervision. Poornima Baskar Vimala: Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Vishnupriya Panneerselvam: Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Sujith Sri Surya Ravi: Resources, Project administration, Investigation. Jayaprakash Thulukanam: Resources, Project administration, Investigation.

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank Dakshina M Nair from Department of Microbiology, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu for her invaluable insights and suggestions.

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