The gut commensal Blautia maintains colonic mucus function under low-fiber consumption through secretion of short-chain fatty acids.

Holmberg SM, Feeney RH, Prasoodanan P K V, Puértolas-Balint F, Singh DK, Wongkuna S, Zandbergen L, Hauner H, Brandl B, Nieminen AI, Skurk T, Schroeder BO

Nat Commun 15 (1) 3502 [2024-04-25; online 2024-04-25]

Beneficial gut bacteria are indispensable for developing colonic mucus and fully establishing its protective function against intestinal microorganisms. Low-fiber diet consumption alters the gut bacterial configuration and disturbs this microbe-mucus interaction, but the specific bacteria and microbial metabolites responsible for maintaining mucus function remain poorly understood. By using human-to-mouse microbiota transplantation and ex vivo analysis of colonic mucus function, we here show as a proof-of-concept that individuals who increase their daily dietary fiber intake can improve the capacity of their gut microbiota to prevent diet-mediated mucus defects. Mucus growth, a critical feature of intact colonic mucus, correlated with the abundance of the gut commensal Blautia, and supplementation of Blautia coccoides to mice confirmed its mucus-stimulating capacity. Mechanistically, B. coccoides stimulated mucus growth through the production of the short-chain fatty acids propionate and acetate via activation of the short-chain fatty acid receptor Ffar2, which could serve as a new target to restore mucus growth during mucus-associated lifestyle diseases.

Bioinformatics Support for Computational Resources [Service]

PubMed 38664378

DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-47594-w

Crossref 10.1038/s41467-024-47594-w

pmc: PMC11045866
pii: 10.1038/s41467-024-47594-w