Vaccines are one of the most powerful tools for preventing infectious diseases. To effectively fight pathogens, vaccines should induce potent and long-lasting immune responses that are specific to the pathogens. However, not all vaccines can induce effective immune responses, and the responses vary greatly among individuals and populations. Although several factors, such as age, host genetics, nutritional status, and region, affect the effectiveness of vaccines, increasing data have suggested that the gut microbiota is critically associated with vaccine-induced immune responses. In this review, I discuss how gut microbiota affects vaccine effectiveness based on the clinical and preclinical data, and summarize possible underlying mechanisms related to the adjuvant effects of microbiota. A better understanding of the link between vaccine-induced immune responses and the gut microbiota using high-throughput technology and sophisticated system vaccinology approaches could provide crucial insights for designing effective personalized preventive and therapeutic vaccination strategies.

疫苗是预防传染病最有力的工具之一。为了有效地对抗病原体，疫苗应该诱导针对病原体的有效且持久的免疫反应。然而，并非所有疫苗都能诱导有效的免疫反应，而且不同个体和人群的反应差异很大。尽管年龄、宿主遗传学、营养状况和地区等多种因素会影响疫苗的有效性，但越来越多的数据表明肠道微生物群与疫苗诱导的免疫反应密切相关。在这篇综述中，我根据临床和临床前数据讨论了肠道菌群如何影响疫苗有效性，并总结了与菌群佐剂效应相关的可能潜在机制。