Biotech and the female gut microbiome: Are we on the brink of a women’s health breakthrough?

Women’s gut microbiomes play a powerful and complex role in the regulation of their physical and mental health, but scientific understanding of this role is limited. Now that the microbiome has begun attracting more attention and investment, are we finally on the brink of a women’s health breakthrough?

Human bodies – both male and female – are home to trillions of microorganisms, such a vast quantity that they equal our own body cells at a 1:1 ratio. That means that every external and internal inch of us plays host to foreign bacteria much too tiny to see without the aid of a sophisticated microscope.

It’s inside our digestive system where you’ll find the highest concentration of these ‘friendly’ organisms.

In the large intestine, a huge volume of bacteria –  our gut microbiome – ferments the fibre that we consume as part of our everyday diet to produce powerful molecules called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).

A significant volume of research has proven that these SCFAs – including butyrate and propionate – are responsible for strengthening the gut lining, hormone regulation, reducing inflammation, reducing risk of chronic disease, regulating appetite, and even boosting mood and cognition.

However, owing to a lack of targeted research, there is a wide knowledge gap regarding the sex-specific differences in the workings of the gut microbiome, SCFA production and SCFA activity. This is because – until very recently – the majority of microbiome research studies were carried out with male participants, leaving us with a scarcity of data on female gut health.

What we do know is that the gut microbiome displays sexual dimorphism, which suggests that it is influenced by sex hormones. This in itself is significant when trying to understand the workings of the female microbiome, given that women’s sex hormone levels fluctuate constantly and undergo significant change during and after the menopause.

We also know that women are statistically more likely than men to suffer from digestive discomfort, and from inflammatory conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) – both of which are influenced by SCFAs produced by the microbiome.

In December 2021, authors of a study into sexual dimorphism in the gut microbiome highlighted the likelihood of a correlation between this dimorphism and the female predisposition to autoimmune disorders.

And, in April 2022, a paper published in the International Journal of Women’s Health on the gut microbiome and the menopause concluded: “Given the potential to modify the gut microbiome through specific prebiotic, probiotic, or antibiotic drugs, the gut microbiome represents an unexplored new frontier in peri- and post-menopausal health. For example, could the gut microbiome be harnessed to improve menopause symptoms, effectiveness of hormone therapy, or menopause-related health outcomes?”

Research in this space, coupled with recent  advances in next-generation sequencing technology that have vastly expanded the study of the microbiome, has generated significant interest within the biotech sector.

Increasingly, companies such as EnteroBiotix are turning their attention – and funding – to building a better understanding of the female gut microbiome and the development of novel therapeutics.

As the wealth of data and analysis increases, we will soon see new insights into exactly how microbiome activity intersects with a broad array of mental and physical markers of women’s health.

If the current pace continues, it’s likely that more effective treatments for inflammatory conditions, menopause symptoms, digestive conditions – and other conditions that women have disproportionately been impacted by – are on the horizon. And that’s something to celebrate.

myota is a gut health start-up based in London that uses machine learning, microbiome sequencing and analytical chemistry to explore and promote the therapeutic benefits of a healthy and properly balanced gut microbiome.