Parabacteroides distasonis: an emerging probiotic?

Parabacteroides distasonis, a gram-negative anaerobe, is a member of the core microbiome in the human gut and its abundance could be dynamically modulated by diet.1 In Gut, Sun et al reported that P. distasonis was markedly depleted in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and the extent of such depletion was positively correlated with the disease activity.2 The authors also showed that gavaging P. distasonis to collagen-induced arthritic mice and tumour necrosis factor-α transgenic mice attenuated arthritis severity, accompanied by the enhancement of gut barrier function and the restoration of T helper 17 cell/regulatory T cell cytokine balance. The secondary bile acids derived from P. distasonis, namely lithocholic acid, deoxycholic acid, 3-oxolithocholic acid and isolithocholic acid, were found to mediate the antiarthritis effect and could inhibit T helper 17 cell differentiation directly or indirectly (via promoting macrophage polarisation towards the M2 phenotype). These findings suggest that P. distasonis...
Source: Gut - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Gut Commentary Source Type: research