Peripheral microbial metabolites as indicators of gut microbiome disruption: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Taylor Kain, Eric Armstrong, Bryan Coburn
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed whether circulating microbial metabolites can indicate gut microbiome disruption. It included 19 human cohorts with paired blood metabolite and stool microbiome data from 3,242 participants. Anaerobe depletion, defined as obligate anaerobe relative abundance <0.70, was associated with lower plasma concentrations of products of anaerobic microbial metabolism. Metabolite combinations distinguished people with and without anaerobe-depleted microbiomes, and metabolite levels showed case-control discrimination comparable to microbiome composition across health and disease states. Levels also changed markedly in patients experiencing anaerobe depletion after antibiotic exposure.
Key findings
- The meta-analysis included 19 human cohorts and 3,242 participants with paired blood metabolite and stool microbiome data.
- Anaerobe depletion (obligate anaerobe relative abundance <0.70) was associated with decreased plasma concentrations of products of anaerobic microbial metabolism.
- Metabolite combinations distinguished anaerobe-depleted from non-depleted microbiomes; case-control performance was similar to that of gut microbiome composition.
- Circulating metabolite levels changed markedly in patients experiencing gut anaerobe depletion after antibiotic exposure.
Why it matters
Blood-based microbial metabolites may offer a practical way to identify substantial gut microbiome disruption when stool sequencing is costly, slow, or difficult to obtain. Their reported ability to distinguish disease states comparably to microbiome composition, and to change with antibiotic-associated anaerobe depletion, supports further evaluation as indicators for research and patient stratification.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not report diagnostic performance estimates or establish that metabolites can replace direct microbiome profiling; it describes them as potentially informative and calls for further validation.