Research

Hormonal

High dietary fiber intake protects against colitis by increasing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like acetate, which bind to GPR43 and GPR109A receptors on gut epithelial cells to activate the NLRP3 inflammasome and promote gut homeostasis.

To support gut health and reduce inflammation, prioritize a diet high in dietary fiber. This feeds gut bacteria to produce short-chain fatty acids (like acetate), which activate specific receptors (GPR43/GPR109A) on your gut lining. This process triggers a protective immune response (NLRP3 inflammasome) that maintains gut integrity and prevents inflammation.

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Dietary fibre also shapes gut bacterial ecology, resulting in bacterial species that are more effective for inflammasome activation. SCFAs and metabolite receptors thus explain health benefits of dietary fibre, and how metabolite signals feed through to a major pathway for gut homeostasis.
Laurence Macia et al. · Nature Communications · 2015

Why this rating

The study uses rigorous mouse models (knockouts, bone marrow chimeras, germ-free reconstitution) and in vitro validation, providing strong causal evidence for the mechanism.

Source

Metabolite-sensing receptors GPR43 and GPR109A facilitate dietary fibre-induced gut homeostasis through regulation of the inflammasome

Laurence Macia et al. · Nature Communications · 2015

DOI 10.1038/ncomms7734

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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