Role of Short Chain Fatty Acid Receptors in Intestinal Physiology and Pathophysiology

Abstract

Nutrient sensing is a mechanism for organisms to sense their environment. In larger animals, including humans, the intestinal tract is a major site of nutrient sensing for the body, not surprisingly, as this is the central location where nutrients are absorbed. In the gut, bacterial fermentation results in generation of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), a class of nutrients, which are sensed by specific membrane bound receptors, FFA2, FFA3, GPR109a, and Olfr78. These receptors are expressed uniquely throughout the gut and signal through distinct mechanisms. To date, the emerging data suggests a role of these receptors in normal and pathological conditions. The overall function of these receptors is to regulate aspects of intestinal motility, hormone secretion, maintenance of the epithelial barrier, and immune cell function. Besides in intestinal health, a prominent role of these receptors has emerged in modulation of inflammatory and immune responses during pathological conditions. Moreover, these receptors are being revealed to interact with the gut microbiota. This review article updates the current body of knowledge on SCFA sensing receptors in the gut and their roles in intestinal health and disease as well as in whole body energy homeostasis. © 2017 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 8:1091-1115, 2018.

Single-Anastomosis Duodenal Jejunal Bypass Improve Glucose Metabolism by Regulating Gut Microbiota and Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Goto-Kakisaki Rats

“…Contrary to the changes of SCFAs in T2DM, we observed that six SCFAs displayed a significant increase following DJBsa surgery. SCFAs, as a kind of nutrient source, can improve glucose metabolism by binding to the receptors (GPR43, GPR41 and GP9109A) (Kim et al, 2018;Priyadarshini et al, 2018;Xu et al, 2018). Moreover, we also observed that the expression of SCFA receptors (GPR43, GPR41 and GPR109A) and GLP-1 The GLP-1 expression was increased in the intestines as detected by western blotting.…”

Effects of Gut Microbiome and Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs) on Finishing Weight of Meat Rabbits

“…The gut microbiome comprises the collective genome of the trillions of microorganisms colonizing the intestinal tract, which is responsible for vital metabolic, immunological, and nutritional functions (Sidhu and van der Poorten, 2017). Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), mainly acetate, propionate, and butyrate, are recognized as important metabolites derived from the fermentation of indigestible dietary fibers by gut microbial species, which play fundamental roles in maintaining intestinal homeostasis and energy metabolism regulation (Priyadarshini et al, 2018).…”

Microbiota-gut-brain axis: enteroendocrine cells and the enteric nervous system form an interface between the microbiota and the central nervous system

“…In addition to FFA2 and FFA3, other GPCRs modulated by SCFAs have been discovered namely, Olfr78 (OR51E2) and GPR109a (Thangaraju et al 2009;Pluznick 2017). Compared to FFA2 and FFA3, the ligand profiles, expression pattern, and function of Olfr78 and GPR109a are less well characterized (Priyadarshini et al 2018). Bile acids also represent an important class of metabolites modulated by the gut microbiota (Staley et al 2017;Wei et al 2018).…”