Host-microbial interactions in the metabolism of different dietary fats

• Published in: Cell metabolism Vol. 33; no. 5; pp. 857 - 872
• Main Authors: Chadaideh, Katia S., Carmody, Rachel N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 04.05.2021
• Subjects: Animals; Bile Acids and Salts - metabolism; Colon - microbiology; Dietary Fats - metabolism; Energy Metabolism; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Host Microbial Interactions - physiology; Humans; Intestine, Small - metabolism
• ISSN: 1550-4131; 1932-7420
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2021.04.011

Although generally presumed to be isocaloric, dietary fats can differ in their energetic contributions and metabolic effects. Here, we show how an explicit consideration of the gut microbiome and its interactions with human physiology can enrich our understanding of dietary fat metabolism. We outline how variable human metabolic responses to different dietary fats, such as altered ileal digestibility or bile acid production, have downstream effects on the gut microbiome that differentially promote energy gain and inflammation. By incorporating host-microbial interactions into energetic models of human nutrition, we can achieve greater insight into the underlying mechanisms of diet-driven metabolic disease. Despite epidemiological evidence that dietary fat type influences metabolic health, dietary fats are generally treated as isocaloric. In this perspective, Chadaideh and Carmody consider mammalian and microbial mechanisms that can influence fat metabolism, and propose a holobiont model of energy gain that may help to explain these variable health outcomes.