Shahzad Irfan

By Haseeb Anwar, Shahzad Irfan, Ghulam Hussain, Muhammad Naeem Faisal, Humaira Muzaffar, Imtiaz Mustafa, Imran Mukhtar, Saima Malik and Muhammad Irfan Ullah

The gut microbiome is comprised of various types of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses naturally occurring in humans and animals as normal microflora. Gut microorganisms are typically host specific, and their number and type vary according to different host species and environment. Gut microbes contribute directly and/or indirectly to various physiological processes including immune modulation, regulation of various neurotransmitter, and hormones, as well as production of many antioxidants and metabolites. They also play a role as antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and anti-carcinogenic agents. Moreover, the ability of gut microbes to attenuate various systemic diseases like coronary heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, metabolic diseases like diabetes mellitus, and infectious diseases like diarrhea has recently been reported. Current research findings have enough evidence to suggest that gut microbiome is a new organ system mainly due to the microorganisms’ specific biochemical interaction with their hosts and their systemic integration into the host biology. Investigations into the potential ability of gut microbiome to influence metabolism inside their host via biochemical interaction with antibiotics and other drugs has recently been initiated. This chapter specifically focuses on the importance of gut microorganisms as a new organ system.

Part of the book: Parasitology and Microbiology Research

By Shahzad Irfan, Humaira Muzaffar, Haseeb Anwar and Farhat Jabeen

Appropriate metabolic regulation is vital for health. Multiple factors play important roles in maintaining the metabolic system in different physiological conditions. These factors range from intestinal metabolism of food and absorption of nutrients, pancreatic hormones and their interplay under feeding and fasting, hepatic regulation of macronutrient formation and metabolism storage of macronutrients in skeletal muscles. Intestinal metabolism of ingested food and subsequent nutrient absorption depends on the symbiotic microbial community residing in the gut. The specific ratio of different microbial phyla in the gut has proved to be extremely important for the beneficial role of the gut microbiome. The importance of gut microbiome in the regulation of metabolism has been highlighted with reports of the abnormal ratio of gut microbial community resulting in different metabolic disturbances ranging from obesity to the development of diabetes mellitus. The physiological impact of insulin on the metabolic regulation of macronutrients has recently been shown to be augmented by the secondary metabolites produced by anaerobic fermentation. The current chapter aims to highlight recent findings in the regulation of extraintestinal metabolism by gut microbiome with a specific emphasis on the physiology and pathophysiology of the pancreas in health and disease.

Part of the book: Effect of Microbiota on Health and Disease

By Shahzad Irfan, Farhat Jabeen and Haseeb Anwar

Recent reports of diabetes susceptibility loci located on the non-coding regions of the genome highlight the importance of epigenetic control in health and disease. Specifically, microRNAs have shown to have an important regulatory role in pancreatic ß cell physiology. Human studies implicated that ß cell mass and function are regulated by microRNAs in health and disease. Further, the microRNAs are also implicated in ensuing diabetic complications. Delineating the peculiar role of microRNAs in ß cell physiology and pathophysiology will fill the missing gaps in our current knowledge and help to devise better treatment regimens for diabetes. This chapter will discuss multiple effects of different microRNAs on the ß cell physiology in the context of maintenance and function in Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Part of the book: Recent Advances in Noncoding RNAs