Abstract:The host serves as a habitat for a variety of microorganisms residing in the skin, oral cavity, respiratory system, etc. Some of these microorganisms that are usually harmless but may become pathogens under certain genetic or environmental conditions have been observed. A new term “pathobiont” has been coined, which, however, lacks a formal Chinese term. Through analyzing the word formation and related studies, we propose the definition of pathobionts as pathological symbiotic bacteria. This review briefly summarizes the pathogenicity of pathobionts under various conditions such as host flora imbalance, exogenous pathogen infections, and nutritional imbalance and the multiple pathological effects induced by pathobionts, shedding light on understanding the mechanism of microbial imbalance in the host.
