miRNA effects on gut homeostasis: therapeutic implications for inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pathogenesis is poorly understood due to its multifactorial nature which comprises genetic as well as environmental factors, making miRNAs ideal candidates for etiological studies.miRNAs can modulate multiple aspects of mammalian gut homeostasis (sometimes simultaneously), ranging from intestinal barrier function, to microbial homeostasis, to damage or pathogen recognition, activating innate and adaptive immune responses.miRNAs have been recently implicated in shaping the gut microbiota of mice and/or humans, whereby miRNAs from intestinal epithelial cells can promote the growth of certain bacteria and vice versa.Emerging preclinical studies in mouse models of IBD have demonstrated the potential of candidate miRNA-based therapies, such as those involving antagomirs (miRNA inhibitors) and agomirs (miRNA mimetics).