Gut microbiome: A revolution in type II diabetes mellitus

Table 5 Limitations and future directions in gut microbiome research for type 2 diabetes mellitus

Limitations	Description	Future directions
Variability in microbial composition	Individual differences in microbiome composition complicate standard treatment outcomes	Personalized microbiome interventions: Develop treatments based on individual microbiome assessments to optimize efficacy
Lack of standardization	Inconsistencies in probiotic formulations affect study comparability and clinical applicability	Standardization of products: Establish regulations and standards for probiotic formulations to ensure quality and consistency
Short-term focus	Most studies have short duration and do not address long-term safety and effectiveness	Longitudinal studies: Conduct long-term studies to assess the sustained effects and safety of microbiome-based interventions
Incomplete mechanistic understanding	The pathways through which the microbiome influences diabetes are not fully elucidated	Mechanistic research: Deepen research into the biochemical interactions within the gut microbiome that affect diabetes pathogenesis and treatment
Drug-microbiome interactions	Potential interactions between probiotics and anti-diabetic medications are not well understood	Interaction studies: Explore how probiotics interact with common diabetic medications to refine treatment protocols
Regulatory hurdles	The global regulatory landscape for probiotics and microbiome therapies varies significantly	Harmonize regulations: Work toward an international consensus on the regulation of microbiome therapies to facilitate global research and application