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The Gut Microbiota and their Metabolites: Potential Implications for the Host Epigenome

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Microbiota of the Human Body

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 902))

Abstract

The gut microbiota represents a metabolically active biomass of up to 2 kg in adult humans. Microbiota-derived molecules significantly contribute to the host metabolism. Large amounts of bacterial metabolites are taken up by the host and are subsequently utilized by the human body. For instance, short chain fatty acids produced by the gut microbiota are a major energy source of humans.

It is widely accepted that microbiota-derived metabolites are used as fuel for beta-oxidation (short chain fatty acids) and participate in many metabolic processes (vitamins, such as folic acid). Apart from these direct metabolic effects, it also becomes more and more evident that these metabolites can interact with the mammalian epigenetic machinery. By interacting with histones and DNA they may be able to manipulate the host’s chromatin state and functionality and hence its physiology and health.

In this chapter, we summarize the current knowledge on possible interactions of different bacterial metabolites with the mammalian epigenetic machinery, mostly based on in vitro data. We discuss the putative impact on chromatin marks, for example histone modifications and DNA methylation. Subsequently, we speculate about possible beneficial and adverse consequences for the epigenome, the physiology and health of the host, as well as plausible future applications of this knowledge for in vivo translation to support personal health.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Eline van der Beek, Sebastian Tims, Dr. Jan Knol and Dr. Sicco Scherjon for helpful comments and stimulating discussions and Charlotte Snethla for supporting the data compilation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutricia Research, Uppsalalaan 12, 3584 CT, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Mona Mischke

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Torsten Plösch

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  1. Mona Mischke
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  2. Torsten Plösch
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Correspondence to Torsten Plösch .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Microecology, Herborn, Germany

    Andreas Schwiertz

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Mischke, M., Plösch, T. (2016). The Gut Microbiota and their Metabolites: Potential Implications for the Host Epigenome. In: Schwiertz, A. (eds) Microbiota of the Human Body. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 902. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31248-4_3

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