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A review of the relationship between the gut microbiota and amino acid metabolism

Amino Acids volume 49, pages 2083–2090 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

New evidence has emerged in recent years to suggest a strong link between the human gut microbiota, its metabolites, and various physiological aspects of hosts along with important pathophysiological dimensions of diseases. The research indicates that the gut microbiota can facilitate metabolite production in two ways: first, the resident species of the gut microbiota use the amino acids produced from food or the host as elements for protein synthesis, and second, conversion or fermentation are used to drive nutrient metabolism. Additionally, the gut microbiota can synthesize several nutritionally essential amino acids de novo, which is a potential regulatory factor in amino acid homeostasis. The primary objective of this review is to summarize the current literature relating to the ways in which microbial amino acids contribute to host amino acid homeostasis.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81600509).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tianjin Medical University, General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052, China

    Rui Lin, Wentian Liu & Meiyu Piao

  2. Department of Colorectal Surgery, Nankai University Affiliated Hospital, Tianjin, 801225, China

    Hong Zhu

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  1. Rui Lin
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Correspondence to Rui Lin.

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This review does not involve any human participants and animal work.

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Handling Editors: C.-A. A. Hu, Y. Yin, Y. Hou, G. Wu, Y. Teng.

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Lin, R., Liu, W., Piao, M. et al. A review of the relationship between the gut microbiota and amino acid metabolism. Amino Acids 49, 2083–2090 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-017-2493-3

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Keywords

  • Amino acids
  • Gut microbiota
  • Dietary
  • Tryptophan
  • Obesity
  • Type 2 diabetes mellitus