Molecular nutrition & food researchApr 25, 2024

Egg Yolk Fats May Protect Against Colon Inflammation by Supporting Gut Bacteria and Their Fatty Acids

Longevity & Aging Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Apr 1, 2026

Abstract

Egg yolk lipids significantly alleviate colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) by inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome.

Antibiotic treatment eliminates the protective effects of egg yolk lipids on DSS-induced colonic inflammation and intestinal damage.
Fecal microbiota transplantation indicates that the beneficial effects of egg yolk lipids on colitis depend on the gut microbiota.
Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are found to suppress colitis by inhibiting the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β and IL-18.
Combined treatment with SCFAs and an NLRP3 inhibitor, MCC950, demonstrates enhanced effectiveness against colitis and NLRP3 inflammasome activation.
These results suggest a potential gut microbiota-SCFAs-NLRP3 axis that could be targeted for inflammatory bowel disease therapy.

Simplified

Egg yolk lipids significantly alleviate dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome, reversing gut microbiota dysbiosis, and increasing short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) concentrations. However, the role of gut microbiota and the relationship between SCFAs and NLRP3 inflammasome are still unknown. Here, this study confirms that antibiotic treatment abolishes the protective effect of egg yolk lipids on DSS-induced colonic inflammation, intestinal barrier damage, and lipopolysaccharide translocation. Fecal microbiota transplantation also supports that egg yolk lipids alleviate colitis in a gut microbiota-dependent manner. Then, the study investigates the relationship between SCFAs and NLRP3 inflammasome, and finds that SCFAs significantly suppress colitis via inhibiting colonic NLRP3 inflammasome activation and proinflammatory cytokines secretions (interleukin, IL)-1β and IL-18, and combined treatment of SCFAs and MCC950 (NLRP3 inhibitor) shows a better activity against colitis and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Together, these findings provide positive evidence for gut microbiorta-SCFAs-NLRP3 axis as a novel target involving in the therapy of inflammatory bowel disease.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View Full Text ↗

Funding

Funding Sources

Key Program of Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province, China

PubMed

National Natural Science Foundation of China

PubMed

Training Project of High-level and High-skilled Leading Talents of Jiangxi Province

PubMed

Egg Yolk Fats May Protect Against Colon Inflammation by Supporting Gut Bacteria and Their Fatty Acids

Abstract

Full Text

Funding

Funding Sources

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the longevity & aging brief