A bacteria linked to longevity was found to feast on lactate only when the meal contains the metallic side dish
In a new paper published December 30, 2024, in PNAS, study coauthor Dmitry A. Rodionov, PhD, research assistant professor in the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, and colleagues, studied how Eubacterium limosum contribute to a healthy human gastrointestinal microbiome by metabolizing lactate.
Lactate or lactic acid is a normal byproduct that is created as our cells generate energy. Lactate can be found in the guts of healthy adults at low concentrations because microbes such as E. limosum make a meal of much of it, preventing the abnormal accumulation sometimes found in patients suffering from ulcerative colitis and other gut-related disorders.
Rodionov and his colleagues examined how E. limosum bacteria break down lactate into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and were surprised to find that the metabolic process depends on two tungsten-containing enzymes.
The authors suggest that their findings are a tipoff that tungsten might be an overlooked micronutrient in the human gut microbiome and may contribute in unappreciated ways to overall human health.