Gut bacteria and metabolites strongly linked

There are strong links between bacteria living in the gut and the levels of small molecules in the blood known as metabolites. Such is the finding of a new study led by researchers from Uppsala University and Lund University, which is now published in the journal Nature Communications.

A team of scientists coordinated by Uppsala University and Lund University has found strong links between certain bacteria living in the gut and small molecules found in the blood. The study is based on analyses of both fecal and blood samples from 8,583 participants in the Swedish Cardio Pulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS).

Recent technological advances have enabled large-scale deep characterization of bacterial communities in biological samples. This is done by sequencing the DNA content of the samples and comparing the results to DNA sequences from known bacteria. Advances in chemistry have further enabled large simultaneous screens of blood samples in order to measure small molecules. The SCAPIS study represents one of the largest collections in the world of both of these kinds of data. In this study scientists investigated the links between the gut microbiota and the small molecules in the blood.

The scientific team believes that the breadth of findings may spur the interest of other international groups focusing on gut microbiota and host interactions, and has therefore opted to publish all the associations on a public website hosted by SciLife Data Centre in Uppsala.

Reference:

Tove Fall et al,An online atlas of human plasma metabolite signatures of gut microbiome composition,Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33050-0