Dietary emulsifiers impact the mouse gut microbiota promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome

The intestinal tract is inhabited by a large diverse community of microbes collectively referred to as gut microbiota. While gut microbiota provide important benefits to its host, especially in metabolism and immune development, disturbance of the microbiota-host relationship is associated with numerous chronic inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the group of obesity-associated diseases collectively referred to as metabolic syndrome. A primary means by which the intestine is protected from its microbiota is via multilayered mucus structures that cover the intestinal surface thus allowing the vast majority of gut bacteria to be kept at a safe distance from epithelial cells that line the intestine (1). Thus, agents that disrupt mucus-bacterial interactions might have the potential to promote diseases associated with gut inflammation. Consequently, it has been hypothesized that emulsifiers, detergent-like molecules that are a ubiquitous component of processed foods and that can increase bacterial translocation across epithelia in vitro (2), might be promoting the post-mid 20th century increase in IBD (3). Herein, we observed that, in mice, relatively low concentrations of two commonly used emulsifiers, namely carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate-80, induced low-grade inflammation and obesity/metabolic syndrome in WT hosts and promoted robust colitis in mice predisposed to this disorder. Emulsifier-induced metabolic syndrome was associated with microbiota encroachment, altered species composition, and increased pro-inflammatory potential. Use of germ-free mice and fecal transplants indicated that such changes in microbiota were necessary and sufficient for both low-grade inflammation and metabolic syndrome. These results support the emerging concept that perturbed host-microbiota interactions resulting in low-grade inflammation can promote adiposity and its associated metabolic effects. Moreover, they suggest that broad use of emulsifying agents might be contributing to increased societal incidence of obesity/metabolic syndrome and other chronic inflammatory diseases.