The gut microbiota regulates white adipose tissue inflammation and obesity via a family of microRNAs

The gut microbiota is a key environmental determinant of mammalian metabolism. Regulation of white adipose tissue (WAT) by the gut microbiota is a process critical to maintaining metabolic fitness, and gut dysbiosis can contribute to the development of obesity and insulin resistance (IR). However, h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science translational medicine 2019-06, Vol.11 (496)
Main Authors: Virtue, Anthony T, McCright, Sam J, Wright, Jasmine M, Jimenez, Monica T, Mowel, Walter K, Kotzin, Jonathan J, Joannas, Leonel, Basavappa, Megha G, Spencer, Sean P, Clark, Megan L, Eisennagel, Stephen H, Williams, Adam, Levy, Maayan, Manne, Sasikanth, Henrickson, Sarah E, Wherry, E John, Thaiss, Christoph A, Elinav, Eran, Henao-Mejia, Jorge
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adipocytes
Adipose tissue
Dysbacteriosis
Energy expenditure
Environmental changes
Insulin
Intestinal microflora
Metabolites
Microbiota
miRNA
Obesity
Tryptophan
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Summary:The gut microbiota is a key environmental determinant of mammalian metabolism. Regulation of white adipose tissue (WAT) by the gut microbiota is a process critical to maintaining metabolic fitness, and gut dysbiosis can contribute to the development of obesity and insulin resistance (IR). However, how the gut microbiota regulates WAT function remains largely unknown. Here, we show that tryptophan-derived metabolites produced by the gut microbiota controlled the expression of the family in white adipocytes in mice to regulate energy expenditure and insulin sensitivity. Moreover, dysregulation of the gut microbiota- axis was required for the development of obesity, IR, and WAT inflammation in mice. Our results indicate that regulation of in WAT by gut microbiota-derived metabolites is a central mechanism by which host metabolism is tuned in response to dietary and environmental changes. As we also found that expression in WAT and the plasma abundance of tryptophan-derived metabolites were dysregulated in a cohort of obese human children, the family may represent a potential therapeutic target to modulate WAT function in the context of obesity.
ISSN:1946-6234
1946-6242
1946-3242
DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.aav1892