Topic
Every study covered on this subject, newest first.
A registered, powered twelve week trial of a heat killed bacterial preparation missed its primary outcome in 120 overweight adults. Weight, BMI and leptin moved only in the half of participants whose gut community was least diverse to begin with, a split the authors did not plan.
Gut Microbes 18(1):2722835 · Lim et al. · the LOTTE R and D Center · 25 August 2026 · PMID 42640624
Stool from 63 adults was measured twice, once gently and once after rupturing the bacterial cells. An active form of vitamin B12 was undetectable until the cells were broken open, while roughly two fifths of the biotin was already free outside them. The single total that fecal metabolomics normally reports is two different quantities added together.
Gut Microbes 18(1):2719062 · Hirayama et al. · Chubu University · 24 August 2026 · PMID 42635406
Stripping the gut microbiome of male mice cut voluntary wheel running, and feeding back the short chain fatty acids that gut microbes normally make restored it. A fibre rich diet pushed running above normal and came with more striatal histamine.
mSystems, article e0087626 · Hutchinson et al. · the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign · 19 August 2026 · PMID 42615618
Dutch researchers sequenced 4,526 stool samples from 714 mother and infant pairs, from twelve weeks of pregnancy to the baby's first birthday, and matched bacterial strains between them. The mother's own gut was the major reservoir for the infant's gut strains, with only occasional transmission from the vaginal or breast milk microbiomes. Home birth barely registered, mattering about as much as how long the pushing stage lasted.
Nature · Sinha et al. · University of Groningen and University Medical Center Groningen · 12 August 2026 · PMID 42587158
Twenty eight healthy adults received an identical short chain fatty acid dose targeted either to the small intestine or to the colon. Colonic delivery released more PYY, small intestinal delivery released more GLP-1, which is the opposite of what the authors expected.
The American Journal of · Rosseel et al. · KU Leuven · 10 August 2026 · PMID 42575284
In an eight week randomized placebo controlled trial in older adults, Pediococcus acidilactici PA53 was reported to improve stool consistency by 28% and reduce GI symptoms by 9.5%, with shakier headline gains in happiness and sleep. Every figure currently rests on trade reporting.
The Journal of Nutrition · Wang et al. · 4 August 2026
Machine learning guided design of synthetic gut communities identified a butyrogenic motif involving inulin, Bacteroides uniformis and Anaerostipes caccae, validated in human fecal communities ex vivo.
Nature Chemical Biology 22(8):1286 · Connors et al. · 27 July 2026
Cornell researchers fed resistant starch to more than 50 people and sequenced their microbiomes at strain level. Different strains of the same species, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, responded to the identical fiber in opposite directions.
Microbiology Spectrum · Poole et al. · 27 July 2026
A human comparison of resistant starch versus polydextrose examined plasma and faecal bile acid profiles with microbiota associations; the abstract could not be retrieved before PubMed access closed, so no results are summarized.
European Journal of Nutrition · Fan et al. · 23 July 2026 · PMID 42489745
A narrative review by a prominent author group surveys gut microbiome strategies for athlete recovery, while conceding that the butyrate and propionate anti inflammatory evidence is largely preclinical.
Nutrients 18(14):2403 · Carlone et al. · 22 July 2026 · PMID 42514472
An in vitro screen found around 75% of 39 sweeteners altered the growth of at least one of 25 gut bacterial species. A separate narrative review concluded the evidence supports neither a uniformly harmful nor a uniformly safe verdict on artificial sweeteners.
Molecular Systems Biology (screen); · Xin et al. · 16 July 2026 · PMID 42514471
In 24 elite male combat athletes cutting weight before competition, a seven strain probiotic kept GI symptoms and gut barrier markers roughly stable over four weeks while the placebo group deteriorated sharply.
Frontiers in Nutrition · Wang et al. · 15 July 2026
In mice, adding the fermentable fibre inulin to the diet slowed tumour growth and made anti-PD-1 immunotherapy work better, and butyrate made by gut bacteria reproduced that effect on its own. In the study's separate group of 117 human lung cancer patients, fibre intake was not linked to survival at all.
Gut Microbes · Benlaifaoui et al. · Centre de Recherche du CHUM, Montreal · 15 July 2026 · PMID 42454784
Polylactic acid, the compostable plastic used in food packaging, sheds nanoparticles when hot water is added to powdered food. Combined with the silica already in those powders, it damaged mouse liver and gut more than either did alone, and transplant experiments traced part of that damage to the loss of Lactobacillus.
Food Research International 239:119558 · Wang et al. · Nanchang University · 2 June 2026 · PMID 42270269
Leuconostoc mesenteroides CBA3656, isolated from kimchi, adsorbed nanoplastics across a wide range of concentrations, acidities and temperatures, and held up in fluid formulated to mimic the small intestine. Mice given the strain excreted significantly more plastic in their faeces.
Bioresource Technology 447:134234 · Lee et al. · World Institute of Kimchi · 15 February 2026 · PMID 41702519
Turning the question around, this team asked what plastic does to the bacterium. In a simulated digestion system, micro and nanoplastics suppressed growth, lactic acid production and the protective layer the organism secretes, by shutting down central sugar metabolism.
Journal of Hazardous Materials · Tao et al. · Central South University · 20 October 2025 · PMID 41135453
A screen of 784 bacterial strains from fermented foods found 87 that adsorbed more than 60 percent of polystyrene particles. The two best were given to mice exposed to plastic. Residual particles in the ileum fell by about two thirds, and a deliberately poor binder changed nothing.
Frontiers in Microbiology 15:1522794 · Teng et al. · Bluepha Co., Ltd. · 10 January 2025 · PMID 39867494
Mice exposed to polystyrene micro and nanoplastics were given lactic acid bacteria chosen for high or low binding capacity. The good binders did more good, as expected. One poor binder helped through a different route entirely, by raising the proteins that seal the gut wall.
Environmental Pollution 366:125288 · Shi et al. · Jiangnan University · 3 December 2024 · PMID 39638230
Lactic acid bacteria isolated from infant stool were mixed with nanoscale polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride. Between two thirds and four fifths of the particles ended up on the bacterial surface. Simulations pointed at ordinary surface forces rather than anything biological.
Chemosphere 320:138038 · Zhao et al. · Henan Normal University · 1 February 2023 · PMID 36736839
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