Blueberry intervention mitigates detrimental microbial metabolite trimethylamine N‐oxide by modulating gut microbes

Nov 3, 2023BioFactors (Oxford, England)

Blueberries reduce harmful gut chemical trimethylamine N-oxide by changing gut bacteria

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Abstract

Blueberry supplementation reduced circulating TMAO in mice by approximately 48% without altering choline or TMA levels.

Elevated levels of TMAO are linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in humans.
Dietary strawberries did not have an effect on choline, TMA, or TMAO levels.
Antibiotic treatment drastically lowered TMA and TMAO to levels that could not be quantified.
Blueberry supplementation increased the abundance of certain bacteria negatively associated with TMA/TMAO levels.
The observed effects may be related to chlorogenic acid and other phenolic compounds present in blueberries.

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Gut microbes play a pivotal role in host physiology by producing beneficial or detrimental metabolites. Gut bacteria metabolize dietary choline and L-carnitine to trimethylamine (TMA) which is then converted to trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). An elevated circulating TMAO is associated with diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in humans. In the present study, we investigated the effect of dietary blueberries and strawberries at a nutritional dosage on TMA/TMAO production and the possible role of gut microbes. Blueberry cohort mice received a control (C) or freeze-dried blueberry supplemented (CB) diet for 12 weeks and subgroups received an antibiotics cocktail (CA and CBA). Strawberry cohort mice received a control (N) or strawberry-supplemented (NS) diet and subgroups received antibiotics (NA and NSA). Metabolic parameters, choline, TMA, and TMAO were assessed in addition to microbial profiling and characterization of berry powders. Blueberry supplementation (equivalent to 1.5 human servings) reduced circulating TMAO in CB versus C mice (~48%) without changing choline or TMA. This effect was not mediated through alterations in metabolic parameters. Dietary strawberries did not reduce choline, TMA, or TMAO. Depleting gut microbes with antibiotics in these cohorts drastically reduced TMA and TMAO to not-quantified levels. Further, dietary blueberries increased the abundance of bacterial taxa that are negatively associated with circulating TMA/TMAO suggesting the role of gut microbes. Our phenolic profiling indicates that this effect could be due to chlorogenic acid and increased phenolic contents in blueberries. Our study provides evidence for considering dietary blueberries to reduce TMAO and prevent TMAO-induced complications.

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Blueberry intervention mitigates detrimental microbial metabolite trimethylamine N‐oxide by modulating gut microbes

Abstract

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