UCLA

The microbiome plays multifaceted roles in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Accordingly, the clinical challenge of patient heterogeneity in disease phenotype and response to treatment should in part be addressed by biomarkers that detect the host response to microbiota, and the levels of microbial taxa and products eliciting the host response in susceptible individuals. Molecular analysis has revealed much evidence for microbial taxonomic membership and microbial products in association with IBD, but their utility as clinical biomarkers is still in its infancy. A rich area of progress has been the development and validation of host serologic microbial biomarkers, which have achieved a distinctive position in the diagnosis and prognosis in IBD, and as a template for defining other categories of microbial biomarkers in disease state and phenotype.