WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

Athraa Zaidan Hassan*, Sahar Adnan Shams Uldein

ABSTRACT

The human gut microbiome has now been identified as an essential modulator of host immunity, with a role in the susceptibility to infectious diseases, the maintenance of immune homeostasis and cancer development. Recent studies have shown that the gut Virus-Microbiota interactions are not limited to local mucosal interactions, but also have a prominent role in viral persistence, immune escape and in virus-mediated carcinogenesis. The role of the gut microbiome in the establishment of chronic viral infection and tumor-promoting immune milieu is not fully understood yet, even though significant progress has been made in understanding the molecular mechanisms of oncogenic viruses. In this review, the mechanistic connection among the gut microbial community and the major oncogenic viruses in humans such as human papillomavirus, Epstein–Barr virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, and Merkel cell polyomavirus are comprehensively discussed. The importance of microbiome-mediated modulation of innate and adaptive immune responses, chronic inflammation, interferon signaling, immune checkpoint activation, expansion of regulatory T cells and production of bioactive microbial metabolites that mediate viral persistence and immune evasion is emphasized. We discuss how microbial dysbiosis is linked to disruption of antiviral defenses, promotes tolerogenic immune networks and sets the stage for viral latency, reactivation and malignant transformation. Moreover, new studies that correlate specific microbial features to virus-associated cancers are thoroughly reviewed and discussed for their possible potential as biomarkers for disease process and therapeutic response. The review further addresses novel microbiota-targeted strategies such as probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, dietary modulation, and microbiome engineering strategies as promising strategies to restore immune competence and promote antiviral and antitumor actions. Finally, current challenges and unanswered questions are explored as well as future research directions, with a special focus on multi-omics technologies and precision microbiome-based medicine. The body of evidence presented herein suggests that the gut microbiome is a key player in oncogenic viral persistence and immune evasion, providing new therapeutic targets in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of virus associated malignancies.

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