Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Neurobiology Programme, Centre for Life Sciences, Life Science Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
FEBS Lett. 2022 May;596(10):1241-1251. doi: 10.1002/1873-3468.14364. Epub 2022 May 10.
The dietary thione-thiol, ergothioneine (ET), accumulates in human and animal tissues and may play important roles in disease prevention. ET biosynthesis has only been described in fungi and certain bacteria, and humans and animals are widely assumed to accumulate ET solely from diet. However, a recent study suggested that Lactobacillus/Limosilactobacillus reuteri, a commensal gut bacterium, may produce ET, thereby protecting the host against social defeat stress and sleep disturbances. Upon our further investigation, no evidence of ET biosynthesis was observed in L. reuteri when a heavy-labelled histidine precursor was administered. Instead, we discovered that L. reuteri avidly accumulates ET. This observation may indicate a possible mechanism by which the gut microbiota could influence tissue levels of ET in the host.
饮食中的硫醇-硫酮，即麦硫因（ergothioneine，ET），在人和动物组织中积累，可能在疾病预防中发挥重要作用。ET 的生物合成仅在真菌和某些细菌中被描述，人们普遍认为人和动物仅从饮食中积累 ET。然而，最近的一项研究表明，共生肠道细菌乳杆菌/约氏乳杆菌可能会产生 ET，从而保护宿主免受社交挫败应激和睡眠障碍的影响。在进一步的研究中，当给予重标记的组氨酸前体时，我们没有观察到 L. reuteri 中存在 ET 生物合成的证据。相反，我们发现 L. reuteri 会大量积累 ET。这一观察结果可能表明了肠道微生物群如何影响宿主组织中 ET 水平的一种可能机制。
