Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2024

Keywords

JCA, Animals, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Mice, Brain, Primates, Energy Metabolism, Species Specificity, Adipose Tissue, Humans

JAX Source

Microb Genom. 2024;10(12):001322.

ISSN

2057-5858

PMID

39620695

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001322

Abstract

Because large brains are energetically expensive, they are associated with metabolic traits that facilitate energy availability across vertebrates. However, the biological underpinnings driving these traits are not known. Given its role in regulating host metabolism in disease studies, we hypothesized that the gut microbiome contributes to variation in normal cross-vertebrate species differences in metabolism, including those associated with the brain's energetic requirements. By inoculating germ-free mice with the gut microbiota (GM) of three primate species - two with relatively larger brains and one with a smaller brain - we demonstrated that the GM of larger-brained primates shifts host metabolism towards energy use and production, while that of smaller-brained primates stimulates energy storage in adipose tissues. Our findings establish a causal role of the GM in normal cross-host species differences in metabolism associated with relative brain size and suggest that the GM may have been an important facilitator of metabolic changes during human evolution that supported encephalization.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Share

COinS