There are strong links between bacteria living in the gut and the levels of small molecules in the blood known as metabolites. Such is the finding of a new study led by researchers from
A team of scientists coordinated by
'Earlier studies have shown that the large bacterial community in our digestive system produce a variety of molecules, with the potential to enter the bloodstream and to impact our health. Conversely, medication or dietary components may affect the microbiota composition before entering the circulation. Characterisation of these interactions is an important step towards understanding the effects of the gut microbiota on health,' says Tove Fall, Professor of Molecular Epidemiology at the
Sequencing the DNA content
Recent technological advances have enabled large-scale deep characterisation of bacterial communities in biological samples. This is done by sequencing the DNA content of the samples and comparing the results to DNA sequences from known bacteria. Advances in chemistry have further enabled large simultaneous screens of blood samples in order to measure small molecules. The
'The gut microbiota is a universe of its own and we have just started to understand how the human host and the bacterial community affect each other. Our results show that for certain blood metabolites, the bacteria you carry in the gut constitute a strong determinant,' notes Marju Orho-Melander, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology,
Spur the interest
The scientific team believes that the breadth of findings may spur the interest of other international groups focusing on gut microbiota and host interactions, and has therefore opted to publish all the associations on a public website hosted by
'The large number of samples containing high quality data allowed us to identify many novel associations. We have therefore chosen to publish all of our findings in an online open resource for the research community to use for their varying needs,' says
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