Gut bacterium Intestinimonas butyriciproducens improves host metabolic health: evidence from cohort and animal intervention studies

The human gut microbiome strongly influences host metabolism via fermentation of dietary components to metabolites that allow communication with peripheral tissues. Short chain fatty acids are among most known microbial metabolites that signals to the host. Intestinimonas butyriciproducens is a prevalent commensal bacterium that has a unique capability of converting dietary fructoselysine to butyrate and acetate and has a completed fructoselysine catabolic pathway. Dietary fructoselysine is an abundant Amadori product formed in foods during processing and is part of food products rich in dietary advanced glycation end products which can be potentially toxic. To explore the function of I. butyriciproducens on host metabolism, we employed the diet-induced obesity mouse model to mimic the human metabolic syndrome. Oral supplementation of I. butyriciproducens counteracted body weight gain, hyperglycemia as well as adiposity.