Isobutyrate Confers Resistance to Inflammatory Bowel Disease through Host-Microbiota Interactions in Pigs

作者：Fang X, Liu H, Liu J, Du Y, Chi Z, Bian Y, Zhao X, Teng T, Shi B · 发表于：Research (Washington, D.C.) · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.34133/research.0673 · 被引用次数：112

Supplementation with short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) is a potential therapeutic approach for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of action of isobutyrate in IBD remain unclear. Clinical data indicate that the fecal levels of isobutyrate are markedly lower in patients with Crohn's disease than in healthy controls. Compared with healthy mice and healthy pigs, mice and pigs with colitis presented significantly lower isobutyrate levels. Furthermore, the level of isobutyrate in pigs was significantly negatively correlated with the disease activity index. We speculate that isobutyrate may play a crucial role in regulating host gut homeostasis. We established a model of dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in pigs, which have gastrointestinal structure and function similar to those of humans; we performed multiomic analysis to investigate the therapeutic effects and potential mechanisms of isobutyrate on IBD at both the animal and cellular levels and validated the results. Phenotypically, isobutyrate can significantly alleviate diarrhea, bloody stools, weight loss, and colon shortening caused by colitis in pigs. Mechanistically, isobutyrate can increase the relative abundance of Lactobacillus reuteri, thereby increasing the production of indole-3-lactic acid, regulating aryl hydrocarbon receptor expression and downstream signaling pathways, and regulating Foxp3+ CD4+ T cell recruitment to alleviate colitis. Isobutyrate can directly act...