Scientists may have identified a way to naturally regulate blood sugar and sugar cravings in a similar way to medications like Ozempic.
In mice and humans, the key to unlocking this natural process turned out to be a gut microbe and its metabolites – the compounds it produces during digestion.
By increasing the abundance of this gut microbe in diabetic mice, researchers led by a team from Jiangnan University in China showed that they could “orchestrate the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1.”
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone naturally produced by the body that helps regulate blood sugar levels and the feeling of fullness. The release of GLP-1 is stimulated by certain foods and gut microbes, and its mechanism of action is mimicked by drugs like semaglutide (the ingredient behind Ozempic).
People with type 2 diabetes typically have impaired GLP-1 function, leading to problems with blood sugar control. This is why Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists work as treatments.
These drugs mimic the body’s natural processes, and although they have been shown to be very effective, some researchers want to understand how to get the body to produce more GLP-1 itself.
“More and more research has revealed that our cravings for food components come from signals sent from the gut, a key organ in transmitting food preferences,” the authors explain.
“However, the genes, gut flora, and gut microenvironment metabolites involved in the regulation of sugar preference are unclear at present.”
New research suggests gut microbes like Bacteroides vulgatus and their metabolites may help shape a person’s sweet tooth.
In experiments, if the mice could not produce an intestinal protein, called Ffar4, the researchers discovered that the intestinal colonies of B. vulgatus shrunk. This, in turn, decreased the release of a hormone called FGF21, linked to sugar cravings.
In studies of mice taking GLP-1 agonists, researchers found that the drugs stimulated FGF21.
Meanwhile, in humans, some studies suggest that people with genetic variants of the FGF21 hormone are about 20% more likely to be primary consumers of sugary foods.
In a blood analysis of 60 participants with type 2 diabetes and 24 healthy controls, Chinese researchers found that Ffar4 mutations, which reduce FGF21 production, are linked to an increased preference for sugar, “which could contribute significantly to the development of diabetes.”
Additionally, the gut microbiome could be a key mediator of this process.
Sure enough, the research team discovered that when mice were treated with a metabolite of B. vulgatus, it stimulated the secretion of GLP-1, which then also triggered the secretion of FGF21.
Together, this meant more blood sugar control and fewer sugar cravings in the mice.
Whether the same will extend to humans remains to be seen, but the authors say their study “provides a strategy for diabetes prevention.”
The study was published in Natural microbiology.
