Gut bacteria degrade nicotine | Nature Reviews Microbiology

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Tobacco smoking is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Nicotine can accumulate in the upper digestive tract and this could have

pathological implications, as it has been correlated with tobacco-smoking-related liver diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD could progress to non-alcoholic

steatohepatitis (NASH) and then potentially to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The mechanistic bases for the association of nicotine with liver diseases are not clear. Chen et al.

report that nicotine accumulates in the gut during smoking and promotes the progression of NAFLD, and show that the gut bacterium _Bacteroides xylanisolvens_ can degrade nicotine. Next, the

authors used a set of in vivo assays where SPF mice were administered nicotine and a high-fructose and high-cholesterol diet, and were inoculated with wild-type and _nicX_-knockout _B.

xylanisolvens_ strains. The authors observed that nicotine supplementation accelerated NAFLD progression, hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, and that these effects were ameliorated by

colonization of nicotine-degrading _B. xylanisolvens_ expressing _nicX_. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution

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REFERENCES ORIGINAL ARTICLE * Chen, B. et al. Gut bacteria alleviate smoking-related NASH by degrading gut nicotine. _Nature_ https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05299-4 (2022) Article 

Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Nature Reviews Microbiology http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/ Agustina Taglialegna Authors * Agustina

Taglialegna View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Agustina Taglialegna. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints

and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Taglialegna, A. Gut bacteria degrade nicotine. _Nat Rev Microbiol_ 21, 3 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-022-00826-6 Download

citation * Published: 09 November 2022 * Issue Date: January 2023 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-022-00826-6 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able

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