Nature: A simple compound can control complex intestinal microbes!

Acetate increases the production of IgA (yellow)

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) in Japan have discovered that acetate is the main metabolite produced by some intestinal bacteria and participates in the regulation of other intestinal bacteria

The results of this study, published in the journal Nature, will lead people to develop new methods to regulate the balance of intestinal bacteria

You may be surprised to find that there are 40 trillion important bacteria living in our intestines

Immunoglobulin A (Immunoglobulin A, IgA) is the most abundant antibody produced by the human body, mainly secreted by the surface of the intestinal mucosa

Gut bacteria help us break down food into smaller parts called metabolites

A research team led by Hiroshi Ohno of the Riken Medical Research Institute in Japan fed mice a food that increased local SCFAs in the large intestine

Ohno said: "Short-chain fatty acids, including acetate, are easily absorbed in the stomach and proximal small intestine, so it is difficult to study the effect of oral short-chain fatty acids in the distal small intestine (such as the colon) because the colon itself has short-chain fatty acids.

The researchers also found that the type of bacteria that IgA binds to depends on the presence of acetate

These findings are somewhat unexpected

In summary, this study revealed that acetate produced by bacteria can change the balance of IgA in the intestine

There is increasing evidence that the gut microbiota is involved in many human diseases

(Biocom)

Original title:

Acetate differentially regulates IgA reactivity to commensal bacteria