Phages and Their Role in Gastrointestinal Disease: Focus on Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are a group of chronic autoinflammatory diseases including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Although the molecular mechanisms governing the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal inflammation are not completely clear, the main factors are presumed to be genetic predisposition, environmental exposure, and the intestinal microbiome. Hitherto, most of the studies focusing on the role of the microbiome studied the action and effect of bacteria. However, the intestinal microbiome comprises other members of the microbial community as well, namely, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. We believe that bacteriophages are among the main orchestrators of the effect of microbiota on the gut mucosa. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the knowledge of the role of intestinal phageome in IBD and to discuss the concept of phage therapy and its future applications.