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Novel intestinal bacterium provides
human gut with healthy compounds
Date:December 2,
2015Source:Wageningen University and Research CentreSummary:Fibers in our food
are thought to be good for health since they are converted in the intestinal
tract into the favorable compound butyrate, that is crucial to maintain
intestinal health. In contrast, protein is believed to be less healthy since
intestinal fermentation of the building blocks of proteins, amino acids,
generates undesired compounds. This latter picture is now changing since a novel
intestinal bacterium has been isolated by researchers.Share:
Total shares: 1172
Fibers in our food are
thought to be good for health since they are converted in the intestinal tract
into the favourable compound butyrate, that is crucial to maintain intestinal
health. In contrast, protein is believed to be less healthy since intestinal
fermentation of the building blocks of proteins, amino acids, generates
undesired compounds. This latter picture is now changing since a novel
intestinal bacterium has been isolated by the researcher Nam Bui and co-workers
at Wageningen University. The team reported its findings in the December 1
issue ofNature Communications.
The new intestinal bacterium
is a member of a newly discovered genus Intestinimonas and is able to
efficiently produce butyrate from the amino acid lysine, the most abundant
amino acid. Hence, this bacterium can be considered as a missing link between
protein metabolism, butyrate production and health.
When the team at the
Laboratory of Microbiology led by Prof Willem M. de Vos studied the genome and
its encoded pathways they discovered Intestinimonas to be also capable of
generating butyrate from fructoselysine, a potentially harmful so called
Amadori compound that is formed in heated foods from the sugar glucose and the
amino acid lysine. It has been estimated that about 10 % of the proteins and
peptides (chains of amino acids) that reach the colon every day are Amadori
products. They are known as precursors of glycotoxins or Advanced Glycosyation
Endproducts (AGEs). Diet-derived AGEs have been associated with serious
cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and recently a causal relation has been
established in mice between AGEs in foods and dementia.
The discovery of a bacterium
capable of producing butyrate from protein, Amadori products and AGEs, will open
a new field with attention for protein fermentation instead of the sole focus
on sugar degradation from fibers. The team also found that bacteria carrying
this novel butyrate-producing pathway are detectable in only some humans, which
opens the possibility of targeted approaches to improve gut health in people
lacking Intestinimonas or related bacteria.
Thi Phuong Nam Bui, Jarmo
Ritari, Sjef Boeren, Pieter de Waard, Caroline M. Plugge, Willem M. de
Vos. Production of butyrate from lysine and the Amadori product
fructoselysine by a human gut commensal. Nature Communications, 2015; 6:
10062 DOI:10.1038/ncomms10062
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