Research

Hormonal

Genetic predisposition to higher gut microbial butyrate production potential is causally linked to improved insulin response during an oral glucose tolerance test, while higher fecal propionate levels are causally linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Your genetics influence how your gut bacteria process fiber into metabolites. While butyrate production is linked to better insulin response, high levels of propionate in stool have been causally linked to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes in genetic studies. This highlights the complexity of gut health beyond just 'eating fiber'.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Sanna et al. (37) identified human genetic variants that associate with fecal SCFA levels and reported evidence for a potential causal connection between the GM’s butyrate production potential (i.e., genes responsible for GM butyrate production) and improved response to insulin during an oral glucose tolerance test. These authors also found a causal link between fecal propionate levels and abnormal increased type 2 diabetes risk (37).
Mariana X. Byndloss et al. · Diabetes Care · 2024

Why this rating

Based on MR studies which are limited and not yet confirmed in replication studies according to the text.

Source

The Gut Microbiota and Diabetes: Research, Translation, and Clinical Applications—2023 <i>Diabetes</i>, <i>Diabetes Care</i>, and <i>Diabetologia</i> Expert Forum

Mariana X. Byndloss et al. · Diabetes Care · 2024

DOI 10.2337/dci24-0052

narrative_reviewCited 25×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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