Researchers say a molecule from gut bacteria may counter insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes.
The study reports that trimethylamine (TMA), made by gut microbes from dietary choline, can block a key immune pathway and improve blood sugar control.
Scientists found that TMA acts as a natural inhibitor of IRAK4, a protein that drives inflammation when sensing microbes or high-fat diets.
Insulin resistance means cells respond poorly to insulin, raising blood sugar.
The research was led by professor Marc-Emmanuel Dumas at Imperial College London and CNRS, with an international team including professor Patrice Cani at Imperial and the University of Louvain, dr Dominique Gauguier at Imperial and INSERM in Paris, and professor Peter Liu at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.
The team says the finding challenges long-held assumptions about TMA and its oxidised counterpart TMAO, which has been linked to cardiovascular disease.
Unlike TMAO, TMA appears to play a protective role in metabolic health.
Professor Marc-Emmanuel Dumas is chair in systems medicine in Imperial Collee London’s Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction.
He said: “We’ve shown that a molecule from our gut microbes can actually protect against the harmful effects of a poor diet through a new mechanism.
“It’s a new way of thinking about how the microbiome influences our health.
“Our work opens exciting possibilities with kinases as a new repertoire of targets accessible by microbiome-based therapeutic interventions in obesity and diabetes.”
Professor Liu is scientific director of the Brain-Heart Interconnectome at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.
The researcher said: “In view of the growing threat of diabetes worldwide and its devastating complications for the whole patient, including the brain and heart, a new solution is direly needed.
“Our team’s work connecting Western-style foods, TMA produced by the microbiome, and its effect on the immune switch IRAK4, may open entirely new ways to treat or prevent diabetes, a known risk factor for heart disease.”
