Gut microbiota in regulation of childhood bone growth.

Childhood stunting and wasting, or decreased linear and ponderal growth associated with undernutrition, continue to be a major global public health challenge. Although many of the current therapeutic and dietary interventions have significantly reduced childhood mortality caused by undernutrition, there remain great inefficacies in improving childhood stunting. Longitudinal bone growth in children is governed by different genetic, nutritional and other environmental factors acting systemically on the endocrine system and locally at the growth plate. Recent studies have shown that this intricate interplay between nutritional and hormonal regulation of the growth plate could involve the gut microbiota, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach in tackling childhood undernutrition. In this review, I focus on the mechanistic insights provided by these recent advances in gut microbiota research and discuss ongoing development of microbiota-based therapeutics in humans, which could be the missing link in solving undernutrition and childhood stunting. Published 2023. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Experimental Physiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society.

Citation

Julian C Lui. Gut microbiota in regulation of childhood bone growth. Experimental physiology. 2024 May;109(5):662-671

Mesh Tags

PMID: 38156734

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