Abstract
ABSTRACTThe therapeutic potential of plants is widely recognized and harnessed in plant-based remedies and drug discovery. However, the factors that modulate the bioavailability and bioactivities of plant-derived phytochemicals are poorly understood. In a recent article in mBio, M. C. Theilmann et al. (mBio 8:e01421-17, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01421-17) describe how one gut microbe, Lactobacillus acidophilus, catalytically unwraps plant glucosides to make deglucosylated bioactive aglycones available to human tissues. They demonstrate that understanding the metabolism of plant glycosides by intestinal bacteria is essential to appreciating how bacteria manipulate the levels of bioactive plant metabolites in the human host.
Highlights
Humans have always leveraged the healing power of plants
The bioavailability and bioactivities of plant glycosides, such as salicin, depend greatly on their conjugation to sugar moieties; plant glycosides are more polar and often less biologically active than the deconjugated aglycone. Microbes that utilize these plant glycosides as a source of energy are key players in regulating the levels of the bioactive aglycones available to human tissues [7]. These bacteria possess transport proteins that import the plant glycoside into the cell and hydrolytic enzymes that cleave off the sugar moiety
The specific bacteria and proteins involved in plant glycoside utilization have remained largely unknown, but Theilmann et al [6] provide the first granularity about how Lactobacillus acidophilus interacts with these compounds
Summary
Humans have always leveraged the healing power of plants. The desire to maintain health and combat disease compelled ancient populations to observe and document the effects of edible resources in their environment. Commentary microbiota modulates the bioactivities and bioavailability of phytochemicals is especially crucial in beginning to understand the efficacy of these biologically active plant-based remedies. The specific bacteria and proteins involved in plant glycoside utilization have remained largely unknown, but Theilmann et al [6] provide the first granularity about how Lactobacillus acidophilus interacts with these compounds.
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