Microbial gut dysbiosis induced by xenobiotics in model organisms and the relevance of experimental criteria: a minireview

Abstract The gut microbiota is a dynamic ecosystem involved in multiple physiological processes that affect host health. Several factors affect intestinal microbial communities including dietary exposure to xenobiotics, which is highly concerning due to their widespread distribution. Current knowledge of this topic comes from culture-dependent methods, 16S rRNA amplicon fingerprinting, and metagenomics, but a standardised procedures framework remains lacking. This minireview integrates 45 studies from a systematic search using terms related to gut microbiota and its disruption. Only publications encompassing dietary-oral exposure and experimental gut microbiota assessments were included. The results were divided and described according to the biological model used and the disruption observed in the gut microbiota. An overall dysbiotic effect was unclear due to the variety of contaminants and hosts evaluated and the experimental gaps between publications. More standardised experimental designs, including WGS and physiological tests, are needed to establish how a particular xenobiotic can alter the gut microbiota and how the results can be extrapolated.