Scientists may have discovered a way to naturally regulate blood sugar levels and the desire to consume sugar in a way similar to drugs like Ozempic.
In mice and humans, the key to unlocking this natural process was found to be an intestinal microbe and its metabolites - the compounds it produces during digestion.
By increasing the abundance of this one gut microbe in diabetic mice, the researchers, led by a team from Jiangnan University in China, showed they could "orchestrate the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1," Science Alert reported.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone produced naturally by the body that helps regulate blood sugar levels and feelings of satiety. The release of GLP-1 is stimulated by certain foods and gut microbes, and its mechanism of action is mimicked by drugs such as semaglutide (the ingredient in Ozempic).
People with type 2 diabetes usually have impaired GLP-1 function, leading to problems with blood sugar control, which is why Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists act as a treatment.
These drugs mimic the body's natural processes, and although they have been shown to be very effective, some researchers want to figure out how to get the body to produce more GLP-1 on its own.
"A growing body of research reveals that our desire to consume food components is due to signals sent from the gut, a key organ for transmitting food preferences. However, it is currently unclear which genes, gut flora and metabolites in the gut microenvironment are involved in regulating sugar preference," the authors explain.
The new research suggests that gut microbes such as Bacteroides vulgatus and their metabolites may help shape a person's sweet tooth.
In the experiments, if the mice could not produce an intestinal protein called Ffar4, the researchers found that colonies of B. vulgatus colonies in the intestine shrink. This, in turn, reduced the release of a hormone called FGF21, which is linked to sugar cravings.
In studies of mice taking GLP-1 agonists, researchers found that the drugs stimulated FGF21.
Meanwhile, in humans, some studies have shown that people with genetic variants for the hormone FGF21 are about 20% more likely to be premium consumers of sugary foods.
In an analysis of the blood of 60 participants with type 2 diabetes and 24 healthy controls, researchers in China found that mutations of Ffar4 that reduce FGF21 production were associated with an increased preference for sugar, "which may be an important contributor to the development of diabetes."
Moreover, the gut microbiome may be a key mediator of this process.
Sure enough, the research team found that when mice were treated with a metabolite of B. vulgatus, it increases the secretion of GLP-1, which then also triggers the secretion of FGF21.
Together, this meant better blood sugar control and fewer sugar cravings in the mice.
Whether the same will spread to humans remains to be seen, but the authors claim that their study "provides a strategy for diabetes prevention."
The study is published in the journal Nature Microbiology. | BGNES
