08/03/2025
Possible novel treatment of metabolic syndrome
Trapping gut microbiota produced molecule to improve blood sugar levels
A team of scientists has discovered a surprising new way to improve blood sugar levels and reduce liver damage: by trapping a little-known fuel made by gut bacteria before they wreak havoc on the body.
The findings, published in Cell Metabolism, could open the door to new therapies to treat metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease.
Researchers showed that a molecule produced by microbes in the gut can sneak into the bloodstream and fuel the liver to make more glucose and fat than necessary. But when researchers developed a way to trap this molecule in the gut before it enters the body, they saw dramatic improvements in blood sugar control and fatty liver disease in mice with obesity.
The team found that obese mice — and even people with obesity — have higher levels of a lesser-known molecule, D-lactate, in their blood. Unlike the more familiar L-lactate made by muscles, most of the D-lactate comes from gut microbes and was shown to raise blood sugar and liver fat more aggressively.
To stop this, the researchers created a “gut substrate trap” — a safe, biodegradable polymer that binds to D-lactate in the gut and prevents it from being absorbed. Mice fed this trap had lower blood glucose, less insulin resistance, and reduced liver inflammation and fibrosis — all without changing their diet or body weight.
https://sciencemission.com/Trapping-gut-microbiota-molecule
