The molecular mechanisms by which dietary fruits and vegetables confer cardiometabolic benefits remain poorly understood. Historically, these beneficial properties have been attributed to the antioxidant activity of flavonoids. Here, we reveal that the host metabolic benefits associated with flavonoid consumption actually hinge on gut microbial metabolism. We show that a single gut microbial flavonoid catabolite is sufficient to reduce diet-induced cardiometabolic disease burden in mice. Dietary supplementation with elderberry extract attenuated obesity and continuous delivery of the catabolite 4-hydroxphenylacetic acid was sufficient to reverse hepatic steatosis. Analysis of human gut metagenomes revealed that under one percent contains a flavonol catabolic pathway, underscoring the rarity of this process. Our study will impact the design of dietary and probiotic interventions to complement traditional cardiometabolic treatment strategies.

中文翻译：

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膳食多酚的肠道微生物代谢物逆转肥胖驱动的肝脂肪变性

膳食水果和蔬菜赋予心脏代谢益处的分子机制仍然知之甚少。从历史上看，这些有益的特性归因于类黄酮的抗氧化活性。在这里，我们揭示了与类黄酮消耗相关的宿主代谢益处实际上取决于肠道微生物代谢。我们表明，单一的肠道微生物类黄酮分解代谢物足以减少小鼠饮食诱导的心脏代谢疾病负担。膳食补充剂接骨木提取物可减轻肥胖，持续释放分解代谢物 4-羟基苯乙酸足以逆转肝脂肪变性。对人类肠道宏基因组的分析表明，不到 1% 的人含有黄酮醇分解代谢途径，强调了这一过程的罕见性。