Relationship of Microbiome with Crohns Disease and the Immune System

Crohns Disease and the Immune System, and Microbiome Involvement
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Crohn's Disease and the Immune System and Microbiome Involvement The human gastrointestinal (GI) tract features a system of microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, protozoans, and fungi, which assist in diverse bodily functions and thus affect the overall health and well-being of an individual. The system of microorganisms in the human GI tract hosts approximately 100 trillion of the outlined microbial organisms. The number of microbial organisms in the human gut is 10 times more than the overall number of cells in an individual's body. These intestinal microbial organisms undergo changes with the growth and development of human beings by increasing phylogenetic diversity leading to a relatively stable and complex habitat of microorganisms at approximately the age of three years. The relatively stable and complex community of microorganisms further consists of over 1000 species of bacteria, with varied distribution and composition in the alimentary tract. Commonly referred to as the gut microbiota, the system, collection, or community of microorganisms in the alimentary tract assist in protecting the host against pathogens, harvesting energy from digested food, strengthening biochemical barriers of the gut and intestine, and regulating the immune function. Hence, the intestinal microbiota is integral to the physiology and overall health of the host (Zhang, 2017). Any imbalances between the host and the gut microbiota may have negative implications on the outlined bodily functions, exposing the host to diseases. Such imbalances may result from the altering of the diversity and composition of the intestinal microbiota, which would subsequently affect intestinal homeostasis. Disruption of intestinal homeostasis creates a dysfunction of the mutual relationship between the intestinal microbiota and the host leading to an excessive inflammatory response by the latter. The excessive inflammatory response exposes human beings to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. It suffices, therefore, that the microbiome in humans' gastrointestinal tract plays a significant role in regulating the intestinal immune function against pathogenic attacks that create an excessive inflammatory response by the immune system and expose the host to Crohn's disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases. Provided herein is an investigation of the correlation between the microbiome and Crohn's disease, highlighting the role of intestinal microbiota and its interaction with the host's immune system in the pathogenesis of the chronic gastrointestinal disorder. Crohn's Disease Crohn's disease is one of the subtypes of inflammatory bowel disease that commonly appears as patched lesions in any part of the alimentary canal (Aldars-Garcia, 2021). Like ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease is characteristic of alternating phases of active and inactive states. The inactive state features no intestinal inflammation or any other known symptoms of the disease, while the active state of the disease manifests through intestinal inflammation and symptoms, such as diarrhea, chronic abdominal pain, perianal lesions, and obs...