Author Interviews, Diabetes, Gastrointestinal Disease / 21.10.2015
More Evidence That Gut Bacteria May Affect Progression Of Metabolic Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Adil Mardinoglu, PhD
Assistant Professor of Systems BiologyScience for Life Laboratory
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Stockholm, Sweden
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Mardinoglu: The functional output and diversity of the gut microbiota are important modulators for the development of various human disorders. Obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), atherosclerosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as well as the opposite end of the spectrum, for example, malnutrition have been associated with dysbiosis in the human gut microbiota. In our study, we investigated the interactions between the gut microbiota, host tissues of the gastrointestinal tract and other peripheral tissues as well as diet which are known to be highly relevant for the health of the host.
Through integration of high throughput experimental data, we revealed that the microbiota in the small intestine consumes glycine which is one of the three amino acids required for the synthesis of the glutathione. In order to confirm our predictions, we measured the level of the amino acids in the portal vein of the mice. We observed lower level of glycine in liver and colon tissues, and this indicated that the gut microbiota regulates glutathione metabolism not only in the small intestine but also in the liver and the colon tissues.
(more…)