A recent study led by researchers from Institut Cochin and Université Paris Cité in France suggests that immunizing the gut against flagellin, a bacterial protein, could protect against the harmful effects of consuming dietary emulsifiers.
The research is published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.
The Role of Emulsifiers and Flagellin
Dietary emulsifiers are commonly used in processed foods to prevent ingredient separation.
However, previous research has shown that these substances may alter the gut microbiome, allowing certain microbes to invade the mucosal lining and potentially trigger chronic intestinal inflammation.
Flagellin, a protein that enables bacteria to move, is thought to play a role in promoting such inflammation.
The Study
Researchers hypothesized that by immunizing the gut’s immune system against flagellin, it may offer protection against the negative effects of consuming dietary emulsifiers.
To test this, mice were immunized against flagellin and then fed food containing two standard emulsifiers, carboxymethylcellulose (E466) and polysorbate 80 (E433).
Key Findings
The immunized mice showed no invasion of microbes into their gut lining upon ingestion of emulsifiers.
The immunization also seemed to protect against chronic intestinal inflammation and metabolic imbalances, commonly observed after ingesting emulsifiers.
However, the gut microbiota still changed in composition, indicating that flagellin immunization’s protective effects may relate more to its impact on microbe function and movement, rather than solely affecting microbiota composition.
Implications
Although more research is needed to validate these findings in humans, the study suggests that flagellin immunization could be a new strategy to combat inflammatory conditions linked to host-microbiota interactions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
Benoît Chassaing, one of the researchers, noted, “This study suggests that targeted modulation of the intestinal microbiota can be an efficient way to prevent various chronic inflammatory conditions, such as those occurring during the consumption of commonly used food additives.”
The research adds to the growing body of evidence highlighting the importance of the gut microbiome in various health conditions and suggests a potential preventive strategy against diseases exacerbated by modern diets.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies that vitamin D can help reduce inflammation, and vitamin K may lower your heart disease risk by a third.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about foods that could sharp your brain, and results showing cooking food in this way may raise your risk of blindness.
The research findings can be found in PLoS Biology.
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