Influence of heavy metal exposure on gut microbiota: Recent advances

Abstract Gut microbiota plays a functionally important part in retaining the homeostasis of host physiology, however, under exposure of various heavy metals, the composition of gut biota is disturbed in relation to species diversity and richness. Ever since the increase of microbiome‐related studies during the last decade, many research studies have delivered an understanding of the reasons and concerns of gut microbiota‐related modifications. During the past decade, it's been confirmed from various studies that heavy metals poisoning alters the microbial composition, which results in changes in gene expression, alteration in metabolism, immunity, neurological dysfunction, and causes various other disorders. The present comprehensive review is summarizing an attempt to enumerate the key findings from recent clinical or preclinical studies related to the influence of heavy metals on gut microbiota published recently. Google, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar were employed as primary search engines using the keywords such as “heavy metals, gut microbiota, dysbiosis, and intestinal microbiota” for finding relevant research articles from the past 10 years and some old important articles. Here, we tried to provide insight into some of the key timelines and scientific findings from reported literature, like the effects of heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury on the general body and specifically on the gut microbiota of different model organisms. So, it is important to increase awareness against heavy metal‐induced toxicity and formulate guidelines for the benefit of the environment.