Green signals in a burnt ecosystem: host–microbe interactions as modulators of intestinal inflammation

Restoring gut health: green signals in a burnt ecosystem A healthy gut is characterized by the presence of many different bacteria that help us to digest food and train the immune system what is good or bad for us. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is one of the most abundant gut bacteria in a healthy human gut and ferments dietary fibers to produce butyrate that not only provides energy to our gut cells, but also positively controls immune cells. The gut is severely damaged in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, very similar to a burnt ecosystem following a volcanic eruption. The number of F. prausnitzii’s and production of butyrate in the gut are strongly reduced in IBD. New anti-inflammatory drugs have improved IBD therapy, but still many patients do not respond well to these medications. So, we need to find new ways to treat IBD. Daniela Parada Venegas investigated whether restoring butyrate and other molecules produced by F. prausnitzii can dampen inflammation in IBD, using human tissues and cells, such as patient gut biopsies, mini gut structures (organoids), and immune cell culture systems. Butyrate was found to suppress the inflamed status of immune cells by inhibiting an enzyme (HDAC3) that controls the activity inflammatory genes. Besides butyrate, other products from F. prausnitzii also suppressed inflammation. Macrophages, first-line immune defense cells, are the most important cells effected by F. prausnitzii products. These findings support the development of microbiota-targeted strategies to complement existing IBD therapies, representing the first green signals of recovery in the disrupted intestinal ecosystem.

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