WikiBiomeThe human microbiome encyclopediaRanked matches across titles, topics, categories, and article introductions.
Zinc is the most widely utilized transition metal cofactor in biology. Approximately 9-10% of the eukaryotic proteome and 5-6% of the bacterial proteome consists of zinc-binding proteins capdevila 2024 bacterial metallostasis sensing trafficking. An estimated one-third …
Research summary — not medical advice. This page synthesizes published research on a mechanism-level intervention. It is not a clinical recommendation. Consult a qualified healthcare provider before making any changes to diet, supplementation, or treatment.
Could counter Zn depletion, but excess Zn promotes A-beta aggregation in plaques doroszkiewicz 2023 common trace metals alzheimers parkinsons.
Zinc supplementation addresses the functional zinc deficiency in ASD caused by toxic metal displacement at binding sites. Lead, mercury, and cadmium enter cells via calcium channels and displace zinc from critical enzymes and structural proteins (Primitive 3: mis-metall…
Zinc-metalloproteases are a large and functionally diverse family of proteolytic enzymes requiring zinc (Zn²⁺) in the active site for catalytic activity. They cleave peptide bonds in proteins, causing tissue destruction, immune evasion, and bacterial dissemination. Majo…
Warning: Clinical Disclaimer: This STOP page represents a hypothesis based on mechanistic evidence and should NOT replace clinical judgment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before modifying any treatment plan. Evidence quality ratings reflect the str…
Warning: Clinical Disclaimer: This STOP page represents a hypothesis based on mechanistic evidence and should NOT replace clinical judgment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before modifying any treatment plan. Evidence quality ratings reflect the str…
Research summary -- not medical advice. This page synthesizes published research on why a commonly prescribed intervention may be counterproductive in this specific clinical context. Consult a qualified healthcare provider before making any changes to treatment.
Zinc deficiency is a consistent finding in breast cancer, and Zn plays key roles in immunity (T cell differentiation), p53 activation, and SOD cofactor function. Yet supplementation data are limited, and in the Sister Study, zinc showed a dose-related positive associati…
Zinc is depleted in nearly every disease state examined in this wiki -- cancer (breast, prostate, lung, pancreatic, esophageal, colorectal), type 2 diabetes, PCOS, autism, postpartum depression, and IBD. Zinc supplementation is generally beneficial: it reduces PPD risk …
A Gram-negative, aerobic, non-fermenting coccobacillus and a member of the ESKAPE group of priority pathogens (Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter). Acinetobacter baumannii is among the most problematic nosocomial pathogens…
WHO Priority 1: Critical. A Gram-negative, strictly aerobic coccobacillus and one of the most dangerous nosocomial pathogens on the planet. A. baumannii belongs to the ESKAPE group and causes ventilator-associated pneumonia, wound infections, and bloodstream infections …
A pathotype of escherichia coli that adheres to and invades intestinal epithelial cells, survives and replicates within macrophages, and is strongly associated with ileal Crohn's disease. Unlike classical diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes (EPEC, ETEC, EHEC), AIEC does no…
The most common form of dementia, affecting an estimated 55 million people worldwide and projected to triple by 2050 zhang 2024 recent advances alzheimers mechanisms trials. Characterized by progressive memory loss, cognitive decline, amyloid-beta plaques, and neurofibr…
The process by which soluble amyloid-beta (Aβ) monomers assemble into neurotoxic oligomers and insoluble fibrillar plaques in the brain -- the defining neuropathological event of alzheimers disease. What distinguishes WikiBiome's treatment of this process from conventio…
Antimicrobial metals are metal ions and metal-based materials that kill or inhibit microorganisms. Copper, silver, zinc, and gallium are the principal agents, each exploiting different aspects of microbial metal biology. What makes this field particularly relevant to Wi…
Aromatase (CYP19A1) is the cytochrome P450 enzyme that catalyzes the final and rate-limiting step of estrogen biosynthesis — the conversion of androgens (testosterone, androstenedione) to estrogens (estradiol, estrone). It is expressed in the ovaries, placenta, adipose …
A neurodevelopmental condition affecting approximately 1 in 36 children (US CDC 2023 estimate), characterized by differences in social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. From a metallomics perspective, ASD presents a compelling convergence of…
Bacteroides is the most abundant genus in the Western adult gut and a cornerstone of intestinal polysaccharide metabolism. As members of the bacteroidetes phylum, Bacteroides species encode enormous repertoires of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) organized into pol…
A Gram-negative obligate anaerobe and the most clinically significant member of the Bacteroides genus. B. fragilis occupies a unique dual position in gut microbiology: as a non-toxigenic commensal (NTBF), it produces polysaccharide A (PSA) that shapes immune tolerance; …
Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron is one of the most abundant and metabolically versatile commensals of the human gut, routinely cited as a model organism for studying host-microbe symbiosis. Its genome was one of the first human gut bacterial genomes fully sequenced, and su…
A Gram-negative obligate anaerobe that exemplifies the commensal-pathobiont spectrum. B. vulgatus is a common component of the healthy gut microbiota, yet is significantly enriched in colorectal cancer and depression, suggesting a context-dependent pathogenic potential.…
Bipolar disorder is a chronic neuropsychiatric condition characterized by recurrent episodes of mania (or hypomania) and depression, affecting approximately 1-2.4% of the global population. It carries significant morbidity -- reduced life expectancy by 10-15 years, high…
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, with approximately 2.3 million new cases annually. While genetic, hormonal, and lifestyle factors are well-established risk determinants, the metallomic dimension reveals a consistent pattern of trace element d…
Cadmium is a toxic non-essential heavy metal (IARC Group 1 carcinogen) with a biological half-life of 17--30 years in mammals, primarily accumulating in the renal cortex via proximal tubular reabsorption of the Cd-metallothionein complex rasin 2025 cadmium exposure heal…
A heterodimer of S100A8 and S100A9 calcium-binding proteins that constitutes approximately 60% of the cytosolic protein content of neutrophils. Calprotectin is a central effector of nutritional immunity, sequestering essential transition metals from invading pathogens a…
An opportunistic fungal pathogen whose relationship with metals is multifaceted: C. albicans can biosorb heavy metals from its environment, heavy metal exposure promotes its virulence in immunocompromised hosts, and metal nanoparticles are being developed as antifungal …
Candidozyma auris is the current name for NCBITaxon:498019. Liu and colleagues established the combination in 2024 as MycoBank MB 848169; Candida auris Satoh & Makimura 2009 is its basionym, not a separate species ncbi taxonomy candidozyma auris index fungorum candidozy…
Celiac disease is a chronic autoimmune condition triggered by dietary gluten (gliadin proteins from wheat, barley, and rye) in genetically susceptible individuals (HLA-DQ2/DQ8, carried by ~30-40% of Europeans but penetrant in only ~1% of carriers). Gluten exposure cause…
Chlamydia trachomatis is a Gram-negative, obligate intracellular bacterium and the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide. Its biphasic developmental cycle — alternating between the infectious elementary body (EB) and the replicative reticulate b…
Clostridioides difficile is the current NCBI name for NCBITaxon:1496 and the correct, medically recommended combination recorded by LPSN. Both records retain Clostridium difficile as a validly published homotypic synonym of the same organism rather than a separate speci…
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer death. Over 90% of cases are sporadic, driven by a complex interplay between genetic predisposition, dietary habits, gut microbiome composition, and environmental ex…
An essential trace element with a striking dual nature: required for survival as a cofactor for critical enzymes (SOD1, cytochrome c oxidase, ceruloplasmin), yet toxic in excess through Fenton-like redox cycling and mis metallation of iron-sulfur clusters. Copper is ele…
A chronic, relapsing-remitting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by transmural inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, most commonly affecting the terminal ileum and colon but capable of involving any segment from mouth to anus zhang 2017 intestinal mic…
Curli are functional amyloid fibers produced by escherichia coli, salmonella, and other Enterobacteriaceae as the primary protein component of their extracellular biofilm matrix. The curli subunit CsgA polymerizes into cross-beta-sheet amyloid fibrils that are structura…
Dental caries (tooth decay) is the most prevalent chronic disease worldwide, driven by acid-producing biofilm bacteria — primarily Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus species — that demineralize tooth enamel. In the WikiBiome framework, dental caries connects to the …
Depression is the most prevalent mental health disorder globally, affecting over 280 million people zhu 2025 microbiota gut brain axis depression review, and one of the most metal-sensitive conditions in this wiki. It sits at the convergence of nearly every pathway cata…
Diabetic kidney disease (DKD), also known as diabetic nephropathy, is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) worldwide, affecting 30-40% of patients with type 2 diabetes and type 1 diabetes. DKD is defined by progressive albuminuria, declining glomerular fi…
This page identifies the contradictions and clinical dilemmas that become visible only when the 236 source pages in this wiki are read together. Each paradox describes a situation where evidence-based dietary or supplementation advice -- advice that is correct for most …
Dimethylglyoxime (DMG) is a high-affinity, nickel-specific chelator — two DMG molecules coordinate one Ni²⁺ ion to form a characteristic red complex (Tschugaeff reaction). Unlike broad-spectrum chelation agents (EDTA, DMSA) that bind multiple divalent cations indiscrimi…
Drug repurposing (also called drug repositioning) is the strategy of identifying new therapeutic uses for existing approved drugs. It dramatically accelerates the path from bench to bedside because safety, pharmacokinetics, and manufacturing are already established. In …
The pathological disruption of normal metal homeostasis — the tightly regulated balance of essential trace elements (iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, cobalt) and the effective exclusion of toxic metals (cadmium, lead, mercury, arsenic). Dyshomeostasis is a conve…
Dysmenorrhea -- painful menstruation -- is the most common gynecological complaint, affecting 50-90% of reproductive-age women. It is classified as primary (no identifiable pelvic pathology) or secondary (caused by conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, or fibro…
Endometriosis is a chronic estrogen-dependent inflammatory condition affecting approximately 10% of reproductive-age women, characterized by the growth of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus colonetti 2023 gut vaginal microbiota endometriosis meta analysis. The c…
Enterococcus faecalis is a Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic coccus that inhabits the gastrointestinal tract, oral cavity, and genitourinary tract of humans. It is a commensal in the healthy gut at low abundance but is one of the most clinically significant opportu…
Gene regulation in bacteria is the process by which cells control when and how much of each gene product is made. In the metallomics context, gene regulation is the mechanism by which bacteria respond to the metal environment -- sensing metal availability and adjusting …
Gingipains are the zinc-dependent cysteine proteases that serve as the master virulence factors of porphyromonas gingivalis. Three gingipains exist: RgpA and RgpB (arginine-specific) and Kgp (lysine-specific). They require zinc as a catalytic cofactor, making gingipain …
Alphabetical definitions of specialist terms used throughout this wiki. Where a full concept page exists, the term links to it. --- AhR (aryl hydrocarbon receptor) -- A ligand-activated transcription factor that senses microbial metabolites (especially indoles from tryp…
The third nickel-dependent enzyme class in human pathogens, after urease and hydrogenase. Glyoxalase I detoxifies methylglyoxal, a reactive and toxic byproduct of glycolysis. While less well-known than urease or hydrogenase as a virulence factor, GloI is emerging as a s…
Graves' disease (GD) is an autoimmune thyroid disorder characterized by TSH receptor antibodies (TRAb) that stimulate the thyroid gland, causing hyperthyroidism kahaly 2022 graves disease targeted therapy review. It is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism, with conc…
The gut-penis axis is an emerging concept describing the systemic pathway by which gut microbiome dysbiosis impairs erectile function through endothelial nitric oxide (NO) suppression and chronic inflammation. Though less established than the gut-brain or gut-heart axes…
The gut-thyroid axis describes the bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and the thyroid gland. The thyroid regulates metabolism, energy homeostasis, and immune function -- and the microbiome influences thyroid physiology at every level: mineral absorpt…
Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is the most common autoimmune disease globally and the leading cause of hypothyroidism. Chronic lymphocytic infiltration of the thyroid gland progressively destroys follicular architecture, reducing thyroid hormone output. Prevalence is 5-10…
A Gram-negative, microaerophilic bacterium within the Epsilonproteobacteria (family Helicobacteraceae) that is the primary murine model of hepatobiliary and intestinal disease. Unlike its more famous relative helicobacter pylori, which colonizes the stomach, H. hepaticu…
Histidine is a semi-essential amino acid with a unique property that makes it central to metal biology: its imidazole side chain is one of the strongest biological metal-binding groups, coordinating zinc, nickel, copper, iron, and other transition metals in enzymes and …
Hyperaccumulator plants are species that concentrate heavy metals in their tissues at 10–100× the levels found in non-accumulating species growing in the same soil. Over 700 plant species are known hyperaccumulators — primarily for nickel (~530 species), but also zinc, …
Hyperandrogenism -- the clinical or biochemical excess of androgens (testosterone, androstenedione, DHEA-S) -- is a defining feature of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), affecting 60-80% of women with the condition. It manifests as hirsutism, acne, androgenic alopecia, …
An umbrella term for chronic relapsing-remitting inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, principally crohns disease (CD; transmural, any GI segment) and ulcerative colitis (UC; mucosal, colon only). Approximately 6 million patients worldwide. IBD represen…
A condition in which cells fail to respond normally to insulin, requiring progressively higher insulin levels to maintain glucose homeostasis. Insulin resistance is central to PCOS, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, and has extensive but complex connections to me…
A functional gastrointestinal disorder affecting 10-15% of the global population, characterized by chronic abdominal pain, bloating, and altered bowel habits (diarrhea-predominant, constipation-predominant, or mixed) without identifiable structural pathology. From a met…
A fundamental ordering of divalent transition metal ion binding affinities, established by Harry Irving and Robert Williams in 1953: Mg2+ < Mn2+ < Fe2+ < Co2+ < Ni2+ < Cu2+ Zn2+ This series holds for virtually all ligands and biological chelators. It means that copper b…
The labile metal pool (LMP) is the fraction of intracellular metal that is bioavailable -- loosely coordinated with small molecules, transiently protein-bound, or truly "free" in solution. This pool is vanishingly small (often <1 free atom per cell for zinc and copper) …
Lead is a purely toxic heavy metal with no known biological function. It is the most extensively studied metal in relation to neurodevelopmental harm and is increasingly recognized as a contributor to chronic disease across virtually every organ system, even at levels o…
Manganese is an essential trace element with a narrow therapeutic window: required as a cofactor for critical enzymes including Mn-SOD (SOD2), pyruvate carboxylase, arginase, and ribonucleotide reductase, yet profoundly neurotoxic at elevated levels martin 2022 manganes…
Matrix metalloproteases are a family of zinc-dependent endopeptidases that degrade components of the extracellular matrix (ECM). They are central to tissue remodeling in both health and disease and sit at a critical intersection in the wiki: zinc as the essential cataly…
The biological processes by which organisms maintain proper intracellular and systemic concentrations of essential metals -- importing what is needed, storing excess safely, and exporting or sequestering surplus. Both host and microbial systems have evolved elaborate me…
Metal sensing is the set of regulatory mechanisms bacteria use to detect intracellular metal concentrations and adjust gene expression accordingly. Because metal ions cannot be synthesized or degraded -- only imported, exported, sequestered, or trafficked -- sensing and…
Transition metals serve as essential cofactors for pathogen virulence factors across virtually all domains of microbial life. The dependence of pathogens on metals they must scavenge from the host environment creates a fundamental tension at the heart of infectious dise…
This page synthesizes findings across 1,426 source pages to map the relationships between metals and disease. Where individual source pages document a single study's findings, this page identifies the patterns that emerge when those findings are laid side by side. ADVER…
Specialized proteins that escort metal ions from their point of entry to specific metalloenzyme targets, ensuring correct metalation in a cytoplasm crowded with competing metal-binding sites. Metallochaperones solve a fundamental problem in metal biology: how does the r…
Protein-based transcription factors that sense intracellular metal concentrations and regulate gene expression accordingly. Metalloregulators are the decision-making layer of bacterial metal homeostasis -- they read the labile metal pool, determine whether a specific me…
A family of small (6-7 kDa), cysteine-rich proteins that bind heavy metals with extraordinary affinity. Metallothioneins (MTs) are the cell's primary chemical defense against metal toxicity -- they sequester cadmium, mercury, lead, and other toxic metals, preventing the…
Mis-metallation is the displacement of the correct metal cofactor from an enzyme or protein by a wrong metal ion, leading to loss of function, gain of aberrant function, or structural disruption. This is one of the most fundamental and pervasive mechanisms of metal toxi…
The causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), the leading infectious disease killer worldwide (~1.3 million deaths annually). M. tuberculosis has an exceptionally complex metal biology: it deploys nickel-dependent hydrogenase and urease for intracellular survival, species-s…
Nakaseomyces glabratus is the current name for NCBITaxon:5478. Takashima and Sugita established the current combination in 2022 as MycoBank MB 843854; Candida glabrata is a homotypic synonym and former combination, while Cryptococcus glabratus H.W. Anderson 1917 is the …
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common and lethal gastrointestinal emergency in premature infants, affecting 5-12% of very low birth weight neonates (<1500 g) with mortality rates of 20-30%. Characterized by intestinal inflammation, necrosis, and perforation…
A Gram-negative diplococcus that is simultaneously a nasopharyngeal commensal (carried asymptomatically by 10–35% of the population) and a devastating invasive pathogen causing bacterial meningitis and meningococcal septicemia. The transition from harmless carriage to l…
An umbrella concept encompassing the metallomic dimensions of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative conditions. The brain is uniquely vulnerable to metal toxicity: it has high metabolic demand, limited regenerative capacity, region-specif…
Nickel-glyoxalase (Ni-GlxI) is a bacterial variant of the glyoxalase I enzyme system that depends on nickel as its essential metal cofactor. This enzyme detoxifies methylglyoxal (MG), a toxic glycolysis byproduct that accumulates under glucose fermentation. Unlike the h…
The strategy by which mammalian hosts withhold essential metals from invading pathogens to limit their growth. Well-established for iron and zinc; underexplored but potentially powerful for nickel.