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World J Methodol. Jun 20, 2025; 15(2): 92592
Published online Jun 20, 2025. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v15.i2.92592
Gut virome: New key players in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease
Helal F Hetta, Rehab Ahmed, Yasmin N Ramadan, Hayam Fathy, Mohammed Khorshid, Mohamed M Mabrouk, Mai Hashem
Helal F Hetta, Yasmin N Ramadan, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut 71515, Egypt
Helal F Hetta, Division of Microbiology, Immunology and Biotechnology, Faculty of pharmacy, University of Tabuk, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia
Rehab Ahmed, Division of Microbiology, Immunology and Biotechnology, Department of Natural Products and Alternative Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tabuk, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia
Hayam Fathy, Department of Internal Medicine, Division Hepatogastroenterology, Assiut University, Assiut 71515, Egypt
Mohammed Khorshid, Department of Clinical Research, Egyptian Developers of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Foundation, Cairo 11936, Egypt
Mohamed M Mabrouk, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine. Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt
Mai Hashem, Department of Tropical Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Assiut University Hospital, Assiut 71515, Egypt
Author contributions: Hetta HF, Ahmed R, Ramadan YN, Fathy H, Khorshid M, Mabrouk MM, and Hashem M participated in the study design, prepared the tables and figures, wrote the manuscript, performed some of the analyses, and revised the manuscript; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
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: Mai Hashem, MBChB, MD, MHSc, Lecturer, Department of Tropical Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Assiut University Hospital, Assiut University Campus, Assiut 71515, Egypt. mayahashem@yahoo.com
Received: January 30, 2024
Revised: May 28, 2024
Accepted: July 23, 2024
Published online: June 20, 2025
Processing time: 301 Days and 22 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic multifactorial inflammatory disease involving the gastrointestinal tract. The exact etiopathogenesis is unknown, but it’s believed that gut microbiome dysbiosis is a cornerstone in triggering disease progression. The gut virome forms a significant part of the gut microbiome and participate in health and disease conditions. Until 2015, researchers paid little attention to their role in IBD. Subsequently, numerous studies have followed this line of inquiry, using advanced techniques to clarify this role. Herein, we emphasize the viral populations in the gut and their predicted roles in the etiopathogenesis of IBD based on current studies.