Over the last years, there has been increasing interest in the intestinal microbiota internationally and in New Zealand. As an illustration of this, more than 26,000 items were selected on a current search of PubMed in April 2020 using a single search term ‘intestinal microbiota’. Furthermore, almost half of these items (10,250) were published in the last 24 months. With the development of more advanced tools, especially non-culture-based techniques (Blanco-Míguez et al. 2019), there has been increasing interest not only in the world of the intestinal microbiota but also of the wide-ranging impacts of the components of this world upon human health and disease. In the past culture-based methods enabled us to learn much about the intestinal microbiota. Using an analogy of learning about the ocean, this approach could be compared to a child splashing in the waves along the seashore, or a sailor looking down into the depths from his ship. New methods and tools, such as highthroughput DNA sequencing, have enabled us to extend our knowledge and understanding in greater molecular detail: similar to being able to explore the depths of the ocean. However, while we have started to understand the complexities and importance of this ecosystem, we still have much to learn before we unlock all the secrets held therein (Almeida et al. 2019). The intestinal microbiota develops from the time of birth (and perhaps earlier), with finetuned mechanisms that assist in the appropriate development of suitable organisms whilst prompting host responses along the way. These mechanisms include the interactions between human milk oligosaccharides, milk-derived organisms, and the optimised growth of bifidobacterial species in the infant’s gut (Lugli et al. 2020; Wiciński et al. 2020). Two articles in this special issue examine different aspects of these critical early life events. Ali et al. (2020) outline key processes involved in the early development of the intestinal microbiota. They delineate aspects of a putative ideal microbiota and emphasise how perturbations of this could contribute to disease in later life, such as atopic disease and inflammatory bowel disease. Kim and co-authors (Kim et al. 2020) also focus on the early steps in the development of the microbiota and emphasise the impact of complementary foods fed to infants during weaning. These two reviews focus on different aspects of these early events, but both serve to remind us of the critical importance of early life events and, most importantly, the possible impact of variations in these events upon future and life-long health and disease. The early acquisition of specific organisms throughout the gut is explored in several other articles in this special issue. Signal et al. (2020) outline the importance of the acquisition of the gastric bacterium, Helicobacter pylori. This bacterium is typically acquired in the first years of life from a previously-colonised close family member. Maternal acquisition is more common, with gastro-oral or faecal-oral transmission considered possible. After initial colonisation, this bacterium establishes itself in the gastric environment, where it has developed key strategies to survive in this harsh acidic setting. While most individuals colonised with H. pylori have asymptomatic and uncomplicated chronic gastritis, some develop peptic ulceration and a smaller number progress to develop gastric cancer or lymphoma. Signal and colleagues (Signal et al. 2020) explore the patterns of H. pylori-related outcomes in New Zealand

中文翻译：

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健康和疾病中的肠道微生物群

在过去的几年里，国际和新西兰对肠道微生物群的兴趣越来越大。为了说明这一点，在 2020 年 4 月的 PubMed 当前搜索中，使用单个搜索词“肠道微生物群”选择了 26,000 多个项目。此外，这些项目中几乎有一半（10,250）是在过去 24 个月内发表的。随着更先进的工具的发展，尤其是非基于培养的技术（Blanco-Míguez 等人，2019 年），人们不仅对肠道微生物群的世界感兴趣，而且对成分的广泛影响也越来越感兴趣这个世界对人类健康和疾病的影响。过去，基于培养的方法使我们能够了解很多关于肠道微生物群的信息。使用学习海洋的类比，这种方法可以比作一个孩子沿着海岸在海浪中嬉戏，或者一个水手从他的船上俯视深处。新的方法和工具，例如高通量 DNA 测序，使我们能够扩展我们对更多分子细节的知识和理解：类似于能够探索海洋深处。然而，虽然我们已经开始了解这个生态系统的复杂性和重要性，但在解开其中的所有秘密之前，我们还有很多东西需要学习（Almeida 等人，2019 年）。肠道微生物群从出生时（也许更早）开始发育，其微调机制有助于适当生物体的适当发育，同时在此过程中促进宿主反应。这些机制包括人乳寡糖之间的相互作用，乳源生物，以及婴儿肠道中双歧杆菌物种的优化生长（Lugli 等人，2020 年；Wiciński 等人，2020 年）。本期特刊中的两篇文章探讨了这些重要的早期生活事件的不同方面。阿里等人。(2020) 概述了肠道微生物群早期发育所涉及的关键过程。他们描绘了假定的理想微生物群的各个方面，并强调了这种扰动如何导致晚年疾病，例如特应性疾病和炎症性肠病。Kim 及其合著者（Kim 等人，2020 年）还关注微生物群发育的早期步骤，并强调了在断奶期间给婴儿喂食辅食的影响。这两个评论侧重于这些早期事件的不同方面，但两者都提醒我们早期生活事件的重要性，最重要的是，这些事件的变化可能对未来和终生健康和疾病产生影响。本期特刊的其他几篇文章探讨了整个肠道中特定生物的早期获取。信号等。(2020) 概述了获得胃细菌幽门螺杆菌的重要性。这种细菌通常是在出生后的最初几年从先前定殖的近亲那里获得的。母体感染更为常见，认为可能存在胃肠道或粪口传播。在最初定植后，这种细菌在胃环境中建立起来，在那里它制定了在这种严酷的酸性环境中生存的关键策略。虽然大多数人定植了 H. pylori 有无症状和无并发症的慢性胃炎，一些发展为消化性溃疡，少数发展为胃癌或淋巴瘤。Signal 及其同事（Signal 等人，2020 年）探索了新西兰幽门螺杆菌相关结果的模式