Advances in the study of gut pharmacomicrobiomics

The intestinal flora is a diverse microbial community living in the digestive tract of humans and animals. This microbial community can modify drugs in unpredictable ways, leading to changes in the pharmacokinetics of drugs in vivo and affecting their clinical efficacy. Here we review drug metabolism mediated by intestinal flora from three aspects:prodrug activation, drug inactivation, and toxicity. The effect of the stable hypoxic environment on the composition and quantity of intestinal flora and the effect on drug metabolism are discussed. Understanding the influence of intestinal flora on drug metabolism is not only conducive to individualized medication, but also conducive to rational drug design, allowing us to predict and understand individual drug response and regulate the intestinal microbiome to improve drug efficacy, thus promoting personalized medicine.