DRUG USE AND AGE ALTERS THE DRUG METABOLISM POTENTIAL OF THE HUMAN GUT MICROBIOME

Abstract

While drugs play an important role in human health, the interaction between the human microbiome and the metabolism of drugs remains relatively unknown. Studies have demonstrated the microbiome's capability to metabolize particular medication, but there has yet to be a broad-scope analysis into microbial genes with drug metabolizing potential. This study examined the drug metabolizing potential of the human microbiome, particularly in the gut. A collection of 225 microbial genes with the potential to metabolize drugs were manually curated from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. The abundance of these genes was investigated in three publicly available datasets in relation to body site, sex, age, frailty and medication use. Nearly all genes were found to be present in the human microbiome, with large amounts of interpersonal variation. The abundance of 63 genes correlated with age, 24 genes correlated with frailty, and 40 genes related to medication use.