Microbial transmission in the social microbiome and host health and disease

Cell. 2024 Jan 4;187(1):17-43. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.12.014.

Abstract

Although social interactions are known to drive pathogen transmission, the contributions of socially transmissible host-associated mutualists and commensals to host health and disease remain poorly explored. We use the concept of the social microbiome-the microbial metacommunity of a social network of hosts-to analyze the implications of social microbial transmission for host health and disease. We investigate the contributions of socially transmissible microbes to both eco-evolutionary microbiome community processes (colonization resistance, the evolution of virulence, and reactions to ecological disturbance) and microbial transmission-based processes (transmission of microbes with metabolic and immune effects, inter-specific transmission, transmission of antibiotic-resistant microbes, and transmission of viruses). We consider the implications of social microbial transmission for communicable and non-communicable diseases and evaluate the importance of a socially transmissible component underlying canonically non-communicable diseases. The social transmission of mutualists and commensals may play a significant, under-appreciated role in the social determinants of health and may act as a hidden force in social evolution.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance; antibiotics; communicable diseases; immunity; microbial transmission; microbiota; non-communicable diseases; social determinants of health; social evolution; social networks; social transmission; social virome.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Humans
  • Microbiota*
  • Noncommunicable Diseases
  • Social Factors*
  • Symbiosis*
  • Virulence