Gut microbiota has emerged as a modulator of host metabolism and energy balance. However, the precise microbial metabolites mediating thermogenic activation in obesity remain largely undefined. We investigated the effect of antibiotic treatment under a high-fat diet on metabolites and its contribution to lipolysis and thermogenesis. Antibiotic treatment in high-fat diet-fed rats reduced adiposity and enhanced adaptive thermogenesis. Metabolomics revealed elevated taurine levels in the cecum content and plasma of antibiotic-treated animals, correlating with increased expressions of UCP1 and TGR5 in brown adipose tissue. Taurine enhanced lipolysis and oxygen consumption in mouse adipose tissue and human adipocytes. Thereby, taurine modulated lipolysis dependent on TGR5 signaling in adipose tissue. Human data confirmed that taurine promotes browning of white adipocytes and that acute cold exposure leads to a marked drop in circulating taurine, suggesting its rapid recruitment into thermogenic tissues. Besides its synthesis in the liver and dietary uptake, taurine can be a microbiota-derived metabolite that activates adipose thermogenesis and lipolysis through TGR5 and possibly taurine transporter-dependent mechanisms. These findings uncover a gut–adipose axis with therapeutic potential for metabolic disease.
Jäger et al. (Fri,) studied this question.