2026-04-28 イェール大学
＜関連情報＞
- https://news.yale.edu/2026/04/28/modern-lifestyles-affect-how-gut-microbiome-processes-estrogen
- https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2523589123
工業化は腸内細菌叢のエストロゲンリサイクル能力を高める Industrialization increases the estrogen-recycling capacity of the gut microbiome
Rebecca S. A. Brittain, Richard G. Bribiescas, and Grazyna Jasienska
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Published:April 13, 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2523589123
Significance
Estrogens are essential regulators of human biology, influencing reproduction, physiology, and risk for sex hormone-associated diseases. Gut microbes can recycle estrogens by breaking down their inactivated forms in the intestine, which allows them to be reabsorbed into the bloodstream. Using microbiome data from 24 populations across four continents, we show that industrialized populations, as well as formula-fed infants, have greater microbial capacity for estrogen recycling than nonindustrialized populations and breastfed infants. These findings demonstrate that industrialization and early-life feeding may strongly influence microbial contributions to human estrogen metabolism and exposure.
Abstract
Estrogens influence many aspects of human physiology and health, including fertility, growth, metabolic function, and susceptibility to disease. Up to 65% of circulating estrogens are excreted into the gut via bile, but only 10-15% are eliminated in feces, indicating substantial estrogen reabsorption [H. Adlercreutz and P. Järvenpää, J. Steroid Biochem. 17, 639–645 (1982); A. A. Sandberg and W. R. Slaunwhite, J. Clin. Investig. 36, 1266–1278 (1957)]. This estrogen recycling is enabled by the gut estrobolome, a subset of microbes that deconjugate conjugated estrogens in the gastrointestinal tract, facilitating their reabsorption into systemic circulation [C. S. Plottel and M. J. Blaser, Cell Host Microbe 10, 324–335 (2011)]. To date, it is not known if populations differ in this microbial function, and little is known about its determinants. Here we analyze estrobolomes using publicly available gut microbiome data from 24 populations spanning four continents and subsistence modes ranging from hunting and gathering to pastoralism, rural farming, and industrialized agriculture. We show that industrialized populations exhibit up to seven times greater estrogen-recycling capacity and nearly twofold higher estrobolome diversity compared with nonindustrial groups. We further find that formula-fed infants display two- to threefold higher recycling capacity and as much as eleven times greater estrobolome diversity than breastfed counterparts, revealing early-life divergence in microbial estrogen metabolism. By contrast, sex, age, and BMI are not associated with estrobolome characteristics. These findings demonstrate the crucial impact of industrialized lifestyles, including formula feeding, on the microbial capacity to influence systemic estrogen levels, with implications for life history, reproductive biology, and estrogen-associated diseases, including cancer.
