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Regulatory effects of transition metals supplementation/deficiency on the gut microbiota

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Abstract

Transition metal ions are essential micronutrients for all living organisms and exert a wide range of effects on human health. The uptake of transition metal ions occurs primarily in the gastrointestinal tract, which is colonized by trillions of bacterial cells. In recent years, increasing studies have indicated that transition metals have regulatory effects on the gut microbiota. In view of the significant effect of the gut microbiota on human health and involvement in the pathogenesis of a wide range of diseases, in this paper, we provide a comprehensive discussion on the regulatory effects of four kinds of transition metal ions on the gut microbiota. A total of 20 animal model and human studies concerning the regulatory effects of four types of transition metal ions (i.e., iron, copper, zinc, and manganese) on gut microbiota were summarized. Both the deficiency and supplementation of these transition metal ions on the gut microbiota were considered. Furthermore, the potential mechanisms governing the regulatory effects of transition metal ions on the gut microbiota were also discussed.

Key points

• Regulatory effects of iron, copper, zinc, and manganese on gut microbiota were reviewed.

• Both deficiency and supplementation of metal ions on gut microbiota were considered.

• Mechanisms governing effects of metal ions on gut microbiota were discussed.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. ZR2019MH020), University Youth Innovation Team of Shandong Province (Grant No. 2019KJK017) and Talent Program of Zibo.

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Author notes

  1. Cheng-Yu Li and Xin-Yu Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biomedical Research, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng-Yu Li, Xin-Yu Li, Liang Shen & Hong-Fang Ji

  2. Shandong Provincial Research Center for Bioinformatic Engineering and Technique, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng-Yu Li, Xin-Yu Li, Liang Shen & Hong-Fang Ji

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  1. Cheng-Yu Li
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  2. Xin-Yu Li
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Contributions

HFJ and LS conceived and designed research. CYL and XYL collected data. CYL, XYL, HFJ and LS performed analysis. XYL, CYL, HFJ, and LS wrote paper. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Liang Shen or Hong-Fang Ji.

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CYL declares that he has no conflict of interest. XYL declares that he has no conflict of interest. HFJ declares that she has no conflict of interest. LS declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Li, CY., Li, XY., Shen, L. et al. Regulatory effects of transition metals supplementation/deficiency on the gut microbiota. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 105, 1007–1015 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-021-11096-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-021-11096-2

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