Recent progress in research on the gut microbiota and highland adaptation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

ABSTRACT

Microbial communities that inhabit the host's intestine influence many aspects of the host's health and bear the adaptive potential to alterations in harsh environments and diets. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau represents one of the harshest environments in the world. Preliminary progress has been made in identifying the communities of gut microbes in Indigenous Tibetans and non-human animals. However, due to the complexity of microbial communities, the effects of gut microbes on the host's health and high-plateau adaptation remain unexplained. Herein, we review the latest progress in identifying factors affecting the gut microbiota of native Tibetans and non-human animals and highlight the complex interactions between the gut microbiota, health and highland adaptation, which provides a basis for exploring the correlations between the gut microbiota and clinical indexes in native highland residents and travellers, as well as developing microbiota-based strategies to mitigate health risks for tourists and treatments for mountain sickness during high-altitude travel in the future.