Abstract
Choline is a water-soluble nutrient essential for human life. Gut microbial metabolism of choline results in the production of trimethylamine (TMA), which, upon absorption by the host is converted into trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) in the liver. A high accumulation of both components is related to cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease. However, the relationship between the microbiota production of these components and its impact on these diseases still remains unknown. In this review, we will address which microbes contribute to TMA production in the human gut, the extent to which host factors (e.g., the genotype) and diet affect TMA production, and the colonization of these microbes and the reversal of dysbiosis as a therapy for these diseases.
Highlights
Choline is an essential nutrient for humans throughout their life
trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a metabolite of dietary choline and is dependent upon the consumption of precursors, host genetics, and gut microbial enzymatic activity
We described specific microbial enzymes involved in TMA production pathways as well as the microbes carrying the genes for these enzymes [135]
Summary
Choline is an essential nutrient for humans throughout their life. humans can produce choline in small quantities through the hepatic phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase pathway, most individuals need to increase choline ingestion through their diet, in order to prevent deficiency [1,2,3,4]. The functions encoded in this microbiome expand the host’s physiological potential, playing an important role in health and disease This uniqueness of the host microbiota makes it difficult to devise therapies that can work across the population (see Section 6). As we have previously pointed out, among these bioactive compounds, the gut microbiota is able to produce TMA, which is absorbed in the intestinal epithelium and subsequently delivered to the liver through the portal circulation. There, it will be metabolized into trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). We will discuss the relationship between choline-microbiota changes and their impact on different diseases as well as explore microbial modulation as a potential therapeutic treatment
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