Gut Microbiota Modulation: Implications for Infection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship

The human microbiome comprises a complex ecosystem of microbial communities that exist within the human body, the largest and most diverse of which are found within the human intestine. It has been increasingly implicated in human health and diseases, demonstrably playing a critical role in influencing host immune response, protection against pathogen overgrowth, biosynthesis, and metabolism. As our understanding of the links between the gut microbiota with host immunity and infectious diseases deepens, there is a greater need to incorporate methods of modulating it as a means of therapy or infection prevention in daily clinical practice. Traditional antimicrobial stewardship principles have been evaluated to assess their impact on the gut microbiota diversity and the consequent repercussions, taking into consideration antibiotic pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. Novel strategies of selective digestive decontamination and fecal microbiota transplantation to regulate the gut microbiota have also been tested in different conditions with variable results. This review seeks to provide an overview of the available literature on the modulation of the gut microbiota and its implications for infection control and antimicrobial stewardship. With increased understanding, gut microbiota profiling through metataxonomic analysis may provide further insight into modulating microbial communities in the context of infection prevention and control.