High-fat diet-induced colocyte dysfunction escalates microbial-derived trimethylamine N-oxide

Science 2021, August 13:.

Vol. 373, Issue 6556, pp. 813-818

DOI: 10.1126 / science.aba3683

Commentary

Western-style high-fat diets promote cardiovascular disease because they are rich in choline, which is converted to trimethylamine (TMA) by the gut microbiota, but it is unclear whether the physiology of the gut and the effects of diet can alter the metabolic capacity of the microbiota.

This study used a mouse model of diet-induced obesity and showed that chronic exposure to a high-fat diet alters the physiological function of the intestinal epithelium and escalates the choline catabolism of E. coli.

We found that a high-fat diet impaired mitochondrial bioenergetics in the colonic epithelium, increased the luminal bioavailability of oxygen and nitrate, and enhanced the respiratory-dependent choline catabolism of E. coli. E. coli choline catabolism also increased the levels of circulating trimethylamine N-oxide, a potentially toxic metabolite produced by the gut microbiota.

Since the results of the experiment were not conducted on human subjects, there seems to be no absolutes in the benefits of a high-fat diet, although caution should be exercised in interpreting the results.