Research Progress of Bioavailability of Oral Drugs Based on the Gut Microbiota

Oral administration, with the characteristics of high safety and economic convenience, is one of the most common ways of drug delivery. However, the substantial discrepancy between potent therapeutic properties of various medicines and their low oral bioavailability limits their application. In recent years, researches have revealed that gut microbiota, which act as a practical bioreactor in the human intestinal tract, have an essential effect on the discrepancy. In addition to directly participating in drug metabolism through biotransformation, gut microbiota can also indirectly affect bioavailability of oral drugs by regulating the expression levels of host liver metabolic enzymes and the transporters. This review briefly introduces the factors affecting drug bioavailability, and mainly discusses the effects of gut microbiota and probiotics on drug oral bioavailability to provide a reference for understanding the relationship between gut microbiota and drug oral bioavailability, and developing novel strategies for improving drug oral bioavailability. © 2022 Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry. All rights reserved.