Mast Cells and Microbiome in Health and Disease

Inter-kingdom communication between human microbiota and mast cells (MCs), as sentinels of innate immunity, is crucial in determining health and disease. This complex signaling hub involves micro-organisms and, more importantly, their metabolic products. Gut microbiota is the host's largest symbiotic ecosystem and, under physiological conditions, it plays a vital role in mediating MCs tolerogenic priming, thus ensuring immune homeostasis across organs. Conversely, intestinal dysbiosis of various etiologies promotes MC-oriented inflammation along major body axes, including gut-skin, gut-lung, gut-liver, and gut-brain. This review of international scientific literature provides a comprehensive overview of the cross-talk under investigation. This process is a key biological event involved in disease development across clinical fields, with significant prognostic and therapeutic implications for future research.