Abstract

The mammalian gut microbiota interact extensively with the host through metabolic exchange and co-metabolism of substrates. Such metabolome–metabolome interactions are poorly understood, but might be implicated in the aetiology of many human diseases. In this paper, we assess the importance of the gut microbiota in influencing the disposition, fate and toxicity of drugs in the host, and conclude that appropriate consideration of individual human gut microbial activities will be a necessary part of future personalized health-care paradigms.

Author affiliations

1. Jeremy K. Nicholson and Elaine Holmes are at the Biomedical Sciences Division, Imperial College London, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
2. Ian D. Wilson is at the Department of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Mereside, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 4TG, UK.

Correspondence to: Jeremy K. Nicholson¹ Email: j.nicholson@imperial.ac.uk

Published online 8 April 2005

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