Establishing or Exaggerating Causality for the Gut Microbiome: Lessons from Human Microbiota-Associated Rodents
Open accessAbstract
Human diseases are increasingly linked with an altered or "dysbiotic" gut microbiota, but whether such changes are causal, consequential, or bystanders to disease is, for the most part, unresolved. Human microbiota-associated (HMA) rodents have become a cornerstone of microbiome science for addressing causal relationships between altered microbiomes and host pathology. In a systematic review, we found that 95% of published studies (36/38) on HMA rodents reported a transfer of pathological phenotypes to recipient animals, and many extrapolated the findings to make causal inferences to human diseases. We posit that this exceedingly high rate of inter-species transferable pathologies is implausible and overstates the role of the gut microbiome in human disease. We advocate for a more rigorous and critical approach for inferring causality to avoid false concepts and prevent unrealistic expectations that may undermine the credibility of microbiome science and delay its translation.
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- Authors
- Walter, J., Armet, A. M., Finlay, B. B., & Shanahan, F.
- Affiliations
- University of Alberta (CA)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University College Cork (IE)
- Corresponding author
- Walter, Jens
- Venue
- Cell
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-01
- Volume
- 180
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 221-232
- ISSN
- 0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3001098195
- Cited by
- 596
- References
- 116
- Citations by year
- 2026: 113 · 2025: 72 · 2024: 82 · 2023: 74 · 2022: 93 · 2021: 90 · 2020: 70 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 7.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Campus Alberta
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Weston Family Microbiome Initiative
- Gates Foundation
- Genome British Columbia
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
- Science Foundation Ireland Centre (APC/SFI/12/RC/2273)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
- Keywords
- gut microbiota, causal inference, dysbiosis, rodent models
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation, Animals, Disease, Humans, Rodentia, Models, Animal, Mice, Rats, Microbiota, Dysbiosis
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