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Mice lacking their intestinal microbiota lose the rhythmic patterns in fat uptake that cycle diurnally in mice with their microbiomes intact, researchers reported today (September 26) in Science. The phenomenon is a consequence of the microbes’ influence on the host’s gene regulation. Microbes direct the activity of an enzyme called HDAC3 that in turn influences the activity of mouse genes important for metabolism and, ultimately, the absorption of fat, according to the study.
“Our finding that the intestinal microbiota programs the daily rhythmic expression of small intestine metabolic networks illuminates an essential role for the microbiota in regulating host metabolism and indicates that the microbiome, the circadian clock, and the mammalian metabolic system have tightly coevolved,” the authors write in their report.
Previous research had shown that the gut has a circadian clock, processing nutrients differently depending on the time of day. Researchers had also shown ...
