Targeting the gut microbiota: emerging strategies to enhance healing of diabetic foot ulcers.
Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) affects up to 34% of diabetic patients, with a 1-year recurrence rate of approximately 40%. This review primarily focuses on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the most common form of diabetes associated with DFUs. Emerging evidence shows that gut microbiota critically influences DFUs healing through immune modulation (e.g., Treg/Th17 balance), regulation of inflammatory responses via short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that inhibit NF-κB, the gut-immune-skin axis, and systemic effects of microbial metabolites. Microbiota-targeted interventions-probiotics, prebiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, and dietary strategies-can restore microbial balance and reduce inflammation, thereby promoting DFUs healing. These findings provide a mechanistic foundation for microbiome-based therapies and guide future clinical research.