Project description:With increasing age microglia shift toward a pro-inflammatory phenotype and become hyperresponsive to inflammatory stimuli, disrupting brain homeostasis. Soluble fibers have been suggested as a dietary strategy to prevent or reverse microglia dysregulation, due to the bioactive nature of the short chain fatty acids (SCFA; e.g., butyrate) produced during its fermentation in the colon.
Project description:The aim of the study was to decipher metabolisms responsible (i) for the peculiar adaptation of L. plantarum during soy juice fermentation and (ii) for the release of aroma compounds, amino and short-chain fatty acid, and metabolites with health-promoting properties in soy yogurt. The strategy was the sequencing and annotation of a strain (L. plantarum CIRM-BIA777, PRJEB77707) able to degrade galacto- oligosaccharides, the sampling of soy yogurt, RNA-seq to identify differentially expressed genes of L. plantarum and corresponding metabolisms throughout the kinetics of fermentation. Acids and volatile compounds were also quantified.
Project description:Acetate, propionate and butyrate are the main short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that arise from the fermentation of fibers by the colonic microbiota. While many studies focus on the regulatory role of SCFAs, their quantitative role as a catabolic or anabolic substrate for the host has received relatively little attention. To investigate this aspect, we infused conscious mice with physiological quantities of stable isotopes [1-13C]acetate, [2-13C]propionate or [2,4-13C2]butyrate directly into the cecum, which is the natural production site in mice, and analyzed their interconversion by the microbiota as well as their metabolism by the host. Cecal interconversion - pointing to microbial cross-feeding - was high between acetate and butyrate, low between butyrate and propionate and almost absent between acetate and propionate. As much as 62% of infused propionate was used in whole-body glucose production, in line with its role as gluconeogenic substrate. Conversely, glucose synthesis from propionate accounted for 69% of total glucose production. The synthesis of palmitate and cholesterol in the liver was high from cecal acetate (2.8% and 0.7%, respectively) and butyrate (2.7% and 0.9%, respectively) as substrates, but low or absent from propionate (0.6% and 0.0%, respectively). Label incorporation due to chain elongation of stearate was approximately 8-fold higher than de novo synthesis of stearate. Microarray data suggested that SCFAs exert only a mild regulatory effect on the expression of genes involved in hepatic metabolic pathways during the 6h infusion period. Altogether, gut-derived acetate, propionate and butyrate play important roles as substrates for glucose, cholesterol and lipid metabolism. Mice were infused in cecum with stably-labelled isotopes of the three main short chain fatty acids or control solution. After 6 hrs, livers were removed and pooled RNA samples were subjected to gene expression profiling.
Project description:A Clostridium Group IV Species Dominates and Suppresses a Mixed Culture Fermentation by Tolerance to Medium Chain Fatty Acids Products