Transformative Forces: The Role of Gut Microbiota in Processing Environmental Pollutants

The gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in metabolizing exogenous compounds, profoundly influencing their bioavailability and biological effects. With the increasing prevalence of environmental contamination, understanding the gut microbiota’s role in transforming pollutants and the underlying mechanisms is essential for assessing the associated environmental and health risks. Here, we review the current knowledge on gut microbiota-mediated transformation reaction, with a focus on the identification of transformation products using advanced predictive tools and mass spectrometry. We highlight the integration of multi-omics approaches─including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics─to unravel the mechanisms underlying these processes. Furthermore, we examine the roles of gut microbiota in pollutant bioaccumulation and their interplay with the host in pollutant metabolism and excretion, emphasizing the multifaceted contributions of gut microbiota to pollutant processing and their impacts on host health. Lastly, we identify critical knowledge gaps and emphasize the need for further research to advance our understanding of microbiota-mediated transformations and their broader implications for host physiology, environmental health, and pollution management.