Gut microbiota circadian rhythms: a key regulator of immunometabolic homeostasis

📖 Top 20% JournalNov 28, 2025Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica

Daily rhythms of gut bacteria as important regulators of immune and metabolic balance

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Abstract

Disruptions in circadian crosstalk between the gut microbiota and the host may contribute to metabolic disorders.

Host circadian clocks regulate microbial activity through feeding and sleep patterns.
Microbial community composition and metabolic activity exhibit robust 24-hour oscillations under normal conditions.
Loss of microbial rhythms is associated with impaired intestinal barrier function and chronic inflammation.
Erratic eating patterns and shift work disrupt the temporal dialogue between the host and gut microbiota.
Circadian crosstalk is linked to immune modulation and metabolic regulation in the host.

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Emerging studies have revealed that disruptions in circadian crosstalk between the gut microbiota and the host play an essential role in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders. Under physiological conditions, host circadian clocks regulate microbial diurnal oscillations through rhythmic behaviors, including feeding patterns and sleep-wake cycles. This temporal regulation manifests as robust 24-hour oscillations in microbial community composition, spatial organization, and metabolic activity. These rhythmic microbial signals and their metabolic outputs are subsequently translated into host immune modulation, establishing a bidirectional temporal dialogue between the host and microbiota. Modern lifestyle disruptions, including erratic eating patterns and shift work, desynchronize this temporal dialogue, leading to the loss of microbial rhythms, impaired intestinal barrier function, maladaptive immune responses, chronic inflammation, and systemic metabolic dysregulation. This review delineates the mechanisms through which host-microbiota circadian crosstalk governs immunometabolic homeostasis, provides a mechanistic framework for understanding immunometabolic diseases, and highlights therapeutic strategies that target microbial rhythms to reset host immunity and metabolism.

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Abstract

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