Trends Immunol. 2026 Jun 23:S1471-4906(26)00138-9. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2026.06.001. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Growing evidence indicates that gut microbiota-derived metabolites are key regulators of immunometabolism in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Intestinal epithelial cells and immune cells exhibit profound metabolic alterations in IBD. Microbial metabolites act as intermediates in host-microbe communication, reshaping mitochondrial functions and cellular metabolic pathways, thereby impacting immune functions. Dysbiosis may, therefore, perturb immune homeostasis by rewiring host metabolic circuits. Understanding how microbial metabolites orchestrate immunometabolic crosstalk in the gut and leveraging it to recalibrate host immunometabolic circuits represents promising, underexplored therapeutic avenues. In this review, we highlight emerging concepts on how gut microbiota-derived metabolites shape immune cell immunometabolism and discuss the therapeutic potential of targeting the microbiota-metabolite-immunometabolism axis in IBD.
PMID:42331651 | DOI:10.1016/j.it.2026.06.001