Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.
Advertisement
Gut microbiota in 2024
Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology (2024)
Metrics details
The microbiota is critical for metabolic health. Studies published in 2024 have revealed mechanisms by which key bacterial and micro-eukaryotic organisms optimize energy production in our body and ensure efficient metabolic function.
Prevotella copri metabolizes dietary glycans that correlate with increased weight gain in mice5.
In humans, reduced cholesterol levels are associated with Oscillobacter species, which are able to metabolize this compound8.
Micro-eukaryote Blastocystis presence is correlated with healthier diet, lower BMI and improved cardiometabolic profiles in humans9.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
24,99 € / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
195,33 € per year
only 16,28 € per issue
Buy this article
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Fan, Y. & Pedersen, O. Gut microbiota in human metabolic health and disease. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 19, 55–71 (2021).
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Bäckhed, F. et al. The gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates fat storage. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 101, 15718–15723 (2004).
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Derrien, M., Alvarez, A.-S. & de Vos, W. M. The gut microbiota in the first decade of life. Trends Microbiol. 27, 997–1010 (2019).
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Hibberd, M. C. et al. Bioactive glycans in a microbiome-directed food for children with malnutrition. Nature 625, 157–165 (2024).
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Chang, H.-W. et al. Prevotella copri and microbiota members mediate the beneficial effects of a therapeutic food for malnutrition. Nat. Microbiol. 9, 922–937 (2024).
Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Trøseid, M., Andersen, G. Ø., Broch, K. & Hov, J. R. The gut microbiome in coronary artery disease and heart failure: current knowledge and future directions. eBioMedicine 52, 102649 (2020).
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Wang, Z. et al. Gut flora metabolism of phosphatidylcholine promotes cardiovascular disease. Nature 472, 57–63 (2011).
Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Li, C. et al. Gut microbiome and metabolome profiling in Framingham heart study reveals cholesterol-metabolizing bacteria. Cell 187, 1834–1852.e19 (2024).
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Piperni, E. et al. Intestinal Blastocystis is linked to healthier diets and more favorable cardiometabolic outcomes in 56,989 individuals from 32 countries. Cell 187, 4554–4570.e18 (2024).
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Download references
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Carolina Tropini
School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Carolina Tropini
Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Carolina Tropini
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Correspondence to Carolina Tropini.
The author declares no competing interests.
Reprints and permissions
Tropini, C. Metabolic health across the ages: how microbiota members support our well-being. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-024-01004-0
Download citation
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-024-01004-0
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative
Advertisement
© 2024 Springer Nature Limited
Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.