Meta-Analysis
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 21, 2025; 31(11): 103507
Published online Mar 21, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i11.103507
Changes in Intestinal flora is associated with chronic diseases
Guo-Heng Jiang, Hong-Yu Li, Lin-Jun Xie, Jing-Yuan Fan, Shi-Yi Li, Wen-Qian Yu, Yi-Ting Xu, Meng-Lin He, Yi Jiang, Xuan Bai, Jin Zhou, Xin Wang
Guo-Heng Jiang, Hong-Yu Li, Lin-Jun Xie, Shi-Yi Li, Wen-Qian Yu, Yi-Ting Xu, Meng-Lin He, Yi Jiang, Xuan Bai, Xin Wang, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Jing-Yuan Fan, China Tobacco Sichuan Industry Co. Ltd., Technology Center, Chengdu 610101, Sichuan Province, China
Jin Zhou, Department of Anorectal Surgery, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610075, Sichuan Province, China
Co-first authors: Guo-Heng Jiang and Hong-Yu Li.
Author contributions: Jiang GH and Li HY contributed equally to this manuscript as co-first authors of this manuscript. Jiang GH and Li HY were responsible for data analysis, data interpretation and writing; Jiang GH, Li HY, Xie LJ, Li SY, Yu WQ, and Xu YT contributed to the literature search and figures; Jiang GH, Li HY, Xie LJ, Li SY, Yu WQ, Xu YT, He ML, Jiang Y, and Bai X were involved in the data collection; He ML, Jiang Y, and Bai X were responsible for study design; Fan JY, Zhou J, and Wang X were responsible for funding acquisition and resources; Wang X was responsible for conceptualization, project administration, supervision, validation and writing-review and editing.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81903398; the Research Start-Up Fund for the Introduction of Talents of Sichuan University, No. YJ2021112; Medical Youth Innovation Research Project of Sichuan Province, No. Q21016; Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan, No. 2023NSFSC1927; “From 0 to 1” Innovation Project, Sichuan University, No. 2023SCUH0026; Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Department 2023 Central Guide Local Project, No. 2023ZYD0097; and Cigar Fermentation Technology Key Laboratory of Tobacco Industry, No. 20202309BC530.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xin Wang, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, South Renmin Road, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. wangxinmarine@126.com
Received: November 25, 2024
Revised: December 26, 2024
Accepted: February 24, 2025
Published online: March 21, 2025
Processing time: 112 Days and 6.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

The intestinal flora (IF) has been linked to risks of non-communicable diseases, especially various cancers, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. However, many uncertainties of these associations during different stages of growth, development, and aging still exist. Therefore, further in-depth explorations are warranted.

AIM

To explore the associations of the human IF with disease risks during different stages of growth, development, and aging to achieve more accurate and convincing conclusions.

METHODS

Cohort, cross-sectional, case-control, and Mendelian randomization studies published in the PubMed and Web of Science databases until December 31, 2023 were systematically reviewed to clarify the associations of the IF at the genus level with the risks of various non-communicable diseases, which were grouped in accordance with the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases.

RESULTS

In total, 57 studies were included to quantitatively examine the influence of the IF on the risks of 30 non-communicable diseases during different stages of growth, development, and aging. Population studies and Mendelian randomization studies confirmed positive associations of the abundances of Bifidobacterium and Ruminococcus with multiple sclerosis.

CONCLUSION

These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the roles of the IF and provide novel evidence for effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases. In the future, it will be necessary to explore a greater variety of research techniques to uncover the specific mechanisms by which gut microbiota trigger diseases and conduct in-depth studies on the temporal relationship between microbiota alterations and diseases, so as to clarify the causal relationship more accurately.

Keywords: Intestinal flora; Non-communicable diseases; Occurrence risk; Systematic review; Meta-analysis

Core Tip: The present study revealed significant associations between intestinal flora and numerous chronic non-communicable diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and neurological conditions, along with the growth, development, and aging processes of the human body. These findings provide valuable insights into the pathogenic mechanisms of specific bacterial genera on the host, facilitating enhanced disease prevention and control strategies within the population and offering potential treatment options for related disorders.