Online Now: Early-life gut fungi as modulators of metabolic development #trends #endocrinology #metabolism
Early life is a critical window during which microbes shape immune maturation, nutrient handling, and long-term metabolic health. Although fungi represent a minor proportion of the gut microbiome, emerging evidence suggests they exert a disproportionate influence. In this review, we synthesize current gut mycobiome knowledge during pregnancy and infancy, including ecological assembly, maternal and environmental sources, and links to early metabolic phenotypes. Recent studies on human cohorts and gnotobiotic mice demonstrate that specific fungal species can causally alter adiposity, adipose immune architecture, and bacterial function. We also highlight major knowledge gaps, including questions around true colonization, fungal activity, strain-level transmission, and the molecular basis of fungal–bacterial–host interactions. These findings position the early-life mycobiome as a promising frontier for discovery in metabolic development.
