ReviewFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology2019
The Healthy Human Blood Microbiome: Fact or Fiction?
Review in Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 196 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
196 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Peripheral blood microbial signatures in current and former smokers.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- The leaky gut and microbiome in critical illness: emerging insights into microbial "translocation".Current opinion in critical care · 2026Review
- Microbial Profile Alteration as a Potential Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in Children with Celiac Disease: A Narrative Review.Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition · 2026Review
- The Role of Microbiota in Type 1 Diabetes: Insights into Dysbiosis and Immune Interactions.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Shotgun Metagenomic Characterization of Acne Microbiota Before and After Treatment with a Topical Biotechnological Phytocomplex: Understanding Skin Dysbiosis.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- The cancer-microbiome axis: Mechanisms and emerging therapeutic strategies.Seminars in immunopathology · 2026Review
- Shotgun metagenomic profiling of bacterial microbiomes, metagenome-assembled genomes and antimicrobial resistance in respiratory and blood samples from Gambian children with pneumonia.Research square · 2026Article
- Live tissue microbiota and bacterial translocation: mechanisms and translational perspectives in cardiometabolic diseases.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2026Review
- Deciphering the Arterial and Venous Blood Bacterial DNA Profile: Pioneering Insights into Coronary Heart Disease Etiology and Progression.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Host-Filtered Blood Nucleic Acids for Pathogen Detection: Shared Background, Sparse Signal, and Methodological Limits.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Assessment of 16S rRNA sequencing for analysis of circulating microbial DNA in colorectal cancer patients-proof of concept and early changes during experimental chemoimmunotherapy.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Rapid identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of pathogenic microorganisms from positive blood cultures.PloS one · 2026Article
- A snapshot of the microbiome of blood and ticks of captive cheetahs (Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Niacinamide modulation by hemocyanin shapes hemolymph microbial communities in Penaeid shrimp.ISME communications · 2026Article
- Distinguishing the significance of blood microbes in epithelial ovarian cancer.Gut microbes reports · 2026Article
- The origin of circulating microbial DNA in the blood: where does it come from?Annals of medicine · 2025Review
- Microbiomes of frozen blood plasma samples reveal potential pathogens in wild birds and rodents.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- Article
- Microbial Signatures in Breast Cancer: Exploring New Potentials Across Body Niches.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
136 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The blood that flows perpetually through our veins and arteries performs numerous functions essential to our survival. Besides distributing oxygen, this vast circulatory system facilitates nutrient transport, deters infection and dispenses heat throughout our bodies. Since human blood has traditionally been considered to be an entirely sterile environment, comprising only blood-cells, platelets and plasma, the detection of microbes in blood was consistently interpreted as an indication of infection. However, although a contentious concept, evidence for the existence of a healthy human blood-microbiome is steadily accumulating. While the origins, identities and functions of these unanticipated micro-organisms remain to be elucidated, information on blood-borne microbial phylogeny is gradually increasing. Given recent advances in microbial-hematology, we review current literature concerning the composition and origin of the human blood-microbiome, focusing on bacteria and their role in the configuration of both the diseased and healthy human blood-microbiomes. Specifically, we explore the ways in which dysbiosis in the supposedly innocuous blood-borne bacterial microbiome may stimulate pathogenesis. In addition to exploring the relationship between blood-borne bacteria and the development of complex disorders, we also address the matter of contamination, citing the influence of contaminants on the interpretation of blood-derived microbial datasets and urging the routine analysis of laboratory controls to ascertain the taxonomic and metabolic characteristics of environmentally-derived contaminant-taxa.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.