菊粉作为益生元可以通过调节小鼠和人的肠道菌群来缓解糖脂代谢紊乱，然而，菊粉通过肠道菌群和宿主细胞相互作用关系来改善代谢紊乱的作用机制仍不清楚，我们使用ob/ob小鼠作为模型，利用16S rRNA扩增子测序技术和转录组测序技术来研究菊粉对盲肠菌群的影响以及菌群和宿主细胞的互作关系。添加了菊粉的饮食可以明显改善ob/ob小鼠的糖脂代谢紊乱相关指标，减轻脂肪沉积和葡萄糖不耐受程度，菊粉干预后小鼠盲肠菌群的α多样性降低，而β多样性趋向于恢复到野生型状态，有趣的是，Prevotellaceae UCG 001（属于Prevotellaceae科）这一菌属在菊粉干预后得到显著富集。基因表达谱的分析结果表明leptin基因缺陷型小鼠的盲肠转录组发生改变，而菊粉干预则可以恢复部分信号通路的丰度，尤其是AMPK signaling pathway，基本恢复到野生型水平。Prevotellaceae UCG 001与AMPK signaling pathway之间呈显著正相关，与糖脂代谢紊乱指标呈现显著负相关。我们的研究结果表明菊粉改善糖脂代谢紊乱可能是通过肠道菌群介导的恢复部分leptin基因相关信号通路来实现的。

数以万亿计的微生物栖居于人体，参与人体的生理与病理过程，在人的整个生命进程中都发挥着重要作用。微生物组在不同的生命阶段具有独特的特征。越来越多的证据表明，人体的微生物可能在婴儿发育和免疫系统成熟过程中发挥着重要作用。肠道菌群能够协助分解食物、防御病原体、刺激和调节免疫系统，并能够对下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴施加控制，被认为是促进婴儿和儿童发育的必要条件。在这里，将介绍目前人们对肠道菌群在人类生命早期过程中定植和发育的认识，以及肠道菌群在儿童相关疾病进程中扮演的角色。此外，还将介绍对肠道菌群的操纵实现对疾病治疗的方法和最新进展。

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are commonly used to lessen symptoms in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, the effects of PPI therapy on the gastrointestinal microbiota in GERD patients remain unclear. We examined the association between the PPI usage and the microbiota present in gastric mucosal and fecal samples from GERD patients and healthy controls (HCs) using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. GERD patients taking PPIs were further divided into short-term and long- term PPI user groups. We showed that PPI administration lowered the relative bacterial diversity of the gastric microbiota in GERD patients. Compared to the non-PPI-user and HC groups, higher abundances of Planococcaceae, Oxalobacteraceae, and Sphingomonadaceae were found in the gastric microbiota from the PPI-user group. In addition, the Methylophilus genus was more highly abundant in the long-term PPI user group than in the short-term PPI-user group. Despite the absence of differences in alpha diversity, there were significant differences in the fecal bacterial composition of between GERD patients taking PPIs and those not taking PPIs. There was a higher abundance of Streptococcaceae, Veillonellaceae, Acidaminococcaceae, Micrococcaceae, and Flavobacteriaceae present in the fecal microbiota from the PPI-user group than those from the non-PPI-user and HC groups. Additionally, a significantly higher abundance of Ruminococcus was found in GERD patients on long-term PPI medication than that on short-term PPI medication. Our study indicates that PPI administration in patients with GERD has a significant effect on the abundance and structure of the gastric mucosal microbiota but only on the composition of the fecal microbiota.