Cited by 1,024Gut microbiota and healthT-cell and B-cell ImmunologyDrug Transport and Resistance Mechanisms

Microbial bile acid metabolites modulate gut RORγ+ regulatory T cell homeostasis

Open access
Song, Xinyang, Sun, Ximei, Oh, Sungwhan F., Wu, Meng, Zhang, Yanbo, Zheng, Wen, Geva-Zatorsky, Naama, Jupp, Ray +3 more·2020·Nature

Abstract

The metabolic pathways encoded by the human gut microbiome constantly interact with host gene products through numerous bioactive molecules1. Primary bile acids (BAs) are synthesized within hepatocytes and released into the duodenum to facilitate absorption of lipids or fat-soluble vitamins2. Some BAs (approximately 5%) escape into the colon, where gut commensal bacteria convert them into various intestinal BAs2 that are important hormones that regulate host cholesterol metabolism and energy balance via several nuclear receptors and/or G-protein-coupled receptors3,4. These receptors have pivotal roles in shaping host innate immune responses1,5. However, the effect of this host–microorganism biliary network on the adaptive immune system remains poorly characterized. Here we report that both dietary and microbial factors influence the composition of the gut BA pool and modulate an important population of colonic FOXP3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells expressing the transcription factor RORγ. Genetic abolition of BA metabolic pathways in individual gut symbionts significantly decreases this Treg cell population. Restoration of the intestinal BA pool increases colonic RORγ+ Treg cell counts and ameliorates host susceptibility to inflammatory colitis via BA nuclear receptors. Thus, a pan-genomic biliary network interaction between hosts and their bacterial symbionts can control host immunological homeostasis via the resulting metabolites. Both dietary and microbial factors influence the composition of the gut bile acid pool, which in turn modulates the frequencies and functionalities of RORγ-expressing colonic FOXP3+ regulatory T cells, contributing to protection from inflammatory colitis.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41586-019-1865-0

Cites

34 of 34 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • There is an important bidirectional relationship between intestinal microbiota and bile acids.

    “In recent years, it has been found that there is an important bidirectional relationship between intestinal microbiota and bile acids.”

    From The role of gut dysbiosis in Parkinson’s disease: mechanistic insights and therapeutic options (2021) · cites this paper as [206]

    The Abstract reports that gut bacteria convert primary bile acids into intestinal bile acids and that microbial factors influence the gut bile-acid pool. It does not establish the reverse direction—that bile acids affect the intestinal microbiota—so it supports an interaction but not the claimed bidirectional relationship. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The gut microbiome regulates the activity of RORγ+ Treg cells, and dysregulation of these cells can lead to diseases such as colitis, food allergy, and colon cancer.

    “In addition, the gut microbiome regulates the activity of retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma-positive (RORγ+) Treg cells, dysregulation of which can lead to diseases such as colitis, food allergy, and colon cancer.622,701–704”
  • Microbiota-derived secondary bile acids regulate gut RORγ+ regulatory T cell homeostasis.

    “A recent work showed that microbiota-derived secondary bile acids regulate gut RORγ+ regulatory T cell homeostasis.115”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Song, X., Sun, X., Oh, S. F., Wu, M., Zhang, Y., Zheng, W., Geva-Zatorsky, N., Jupp, R., Mathis, D., Benoist, C., & Kasper, D. L.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
  • UCB Pharma (United Kingdom) (GB)
Corresponding author
Kasper, Dennis L.
Venue
Nature
Published
2019-12-25
Volume
577
Issue
7790
Pages
410-415
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2997490540
Cited by
1,024
References
34
Citations by year
2026: 137 · 2025: 188 · 2024: 174 · 2023: 150 · 2022: 150 · 2021: 145 · 2020: 80
FWCI
31.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5k01dk102771-05)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI125603)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K01-DK102771)
  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (R01AT010268)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Drug Transport and Resistance Mechanisms
Keywords
bile acids, gut microbiota, Foxp3+ regulatory T cells, bile acid metabolism, host-microbe interactions, inflammatory colitis, dietary bile acids, gut symbionts
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Animals, Bile Acids and Salts, Homeostasis, Intestines, Mice, Inbred C57BL, T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory, Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 1, Group F, Member 3

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review