Hydrogen sulfide in physiology and diseases of the digestive tract
Open accessAbstract
Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a Janus-faced molecule. On one hand, several toxic functions have been attributed to H₂S and exposure to high levels of this gas is extremely hazardous to health. On the other hand, H₂S delivery based clinical therapies are being developed to combat inflammation, visceral pain, oxidative stress related tissue injury, thrombosis and cancer. Since its discovery, H₂S has been found to have pleiotropic effects on physiology and health. H₂S is a gasotransmitter that exerts its effect on different systems, such as gastrointestinal, neuronal, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, and hepatic systems. In the gastrointestinal tract, in addition to H₂S production by mammalian cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS), cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE), H₂S is also generated by the metabolic activity of resident gut microbes, mainly by colonic Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria (SRB) via a dissimilatory sulfate reduction (DSR) pathway. In the gut, H₂S regulates functions such as inflammation, ischemia/ reperfusion injury and motility. H₂S derived from gut microbes has been found to be associated with gastrointestinal disorders such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome. This underscores the importance of gut microbes and their production of H₂S on host physiology and pathophysiology.
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H2S is a biologically important thiol that shares significant overlapping signaling activity with NO, reacts with NO-derived reactive species and has been implicated in modulating the pathogenesis of several inflammatory bowel diseases.
“H2S is a biologically important thiol that shares significant overlapping signaling activity with NO, reacts with NO-derived reactive species and has been implicated in modulating the pathogenesis of several inflammatory bowel diseases[91,343,344].”
From Enterosalivary nitrate metabolism and the microbiome: Intersection of microbial metabolism, nitric oxide and diet in cardiac and pulmonary vascular health (2017) · cites this paper as [344]
There remains conflicting evidence regarding the precise role of H2S in the gut.
“Indeed, there remains conflicting evidence regarding the precise role of H2S in the gut[344,347].”
From Enterosalivary nitrate metabolism and the microbiome: Intersection of microbial metabolism, nitric oxide and diet in cardiac and pulmonary vascular health (2017) · cites this paper as [344]
Lower concentrations of endogenously derived H2S exert beneficial cytoprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions.
“On one hand, it appears that lower concentrations of endogenously derived H2S exert beneficial cytoprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions[344,348–351]”
From Enterosalivary nitrate metabolism and the microbiome: Intersection of microbial metabolism, nitric oxide and diet in cardiac and pulmonary vascular health (2017) · cites this paper as [344]
Increased H2S formation by SRB can promote oxidant formation, impair colonic epithelial H2S detoxification and induce cytotoxicity and disruption of intestinal barrier integrity, thereby driving local and systemic inflammation.
“while on the other, increased H2S formation by SRB can promote oxidant formation, impair colonic epithelial H2S detoxification and induce cytotoxicity and disruption of intestinal barrier integrity, thereby driving local and systemic inflammation[344,347,352,353].”
From Enterosalivary nitrate metabolism and the microbiome: Intersection of microbial metabolism, nitric oxide and diet in cardiac and pulmonary vascular health (2017) · cites this paper as [344]
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References 175 · Cited by 260
- Authors
- Singh, S., & Lin, H.
- Affiliations
- University of New Mexico (US)
- Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lin, Henry
- Venue
- Microorganisms
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2015-11-12
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 866-889
- ISSN
- 2076-2607 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5023273
- OpenAlex
- W2122878413
- Cited by
- 260
- References
- 175
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 4
- FWCI
- 0.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Microorganisms (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Defense
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Sulfur Compounds in Biology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Keywords
- hydrogen sulfide, gasotransmitters, gastrointestinal tract, cystathionine beta-synthase, cystathionine gamma-lyase, sulfate-reducing bacteria, dissimilatory sulfate reduction, gut microbiota, inflammation, ischemia-reperfusion injury, gastrointestinal motility, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, oxidative stress, visceral pain, cancer, thrombosis
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