Published December 4, 2023
7 min read
The gut microbiome has captured significant attention lately with a plethora of scientific studies linking it to a range of ailments, from irritable bowel syndrome to neurological disorders.
Bacteria are the primary focus when it comes to the gut microbiome, but other tiny organisms in the gut could be just as crucial for overall health, despite often being overlooked.
Your microbiome also has its own mycobiome, or fungal communities that live in the gut, skin, and respiratory tract. Recent studies suggest that the mycobiome might help keep dangerous microbes at bay and regulate the immune system, or potentially cause chronic disease.
Scientists have connected the fungal communities in the gut to numerous diseases, including long COVID, and several other intestinal, neurological, and respiratory diseases. While researchers are just starting to piece together how fungi impact our health, there’s quite a bit we do know already.
Researchers have long studied the bacterial microbiome but have largely neglected the mycobiome, according to Mahmoud Ghannoum, a microbiologist and professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center who coined the term “mycobiome.” (Ghannoum also cofounded BIOHM Health, a biotechnology company that’s testing probiotic nutritional supplements and biotherapeutics.)
The mycobiome constitutes roughly 0.1% of the microbiome, which includes not only bacteria and fungi but also the archaea, viruses, and parasites inhabiting our skin, gut, respiratory tract, and urogenital tract. While scientists have documented hundreds of fungal species in human guts, only a few dozen are common across individuals.
Even though they are a minority of the microbiome, fungi are still extremely important. Studies show that fungi influence the growth and diversity of bacteria, and together, these communities can aid in digestion and protect us from disease. Siew Ng, a professor and clinician at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the university’s director of Center for Gut Microbiota Research, likens the microbiome to a vibrant rainforest ecosystem. “They are there to protect us,” she says.
However, when certain fungi start to dominate the microbiome, these microbial communities can also get thrown off balance, causing trouble. According to Ghannoum, both fungi and bacteria can form a dense digestive “plaque” known as a biofilm that is resistant to antibiotics and creates a barrier to prevent the body from absorbing nutrients.
This state of microbial imbalance is called dysbiosis, and some of the ways it can occur are from taking broad-spectrum antifungals or antibiotics or having a poor diet.