ArticleCell2024
Gut bacteria convert glucocorticoids into progestins in the presence of hydrogen gas.
Article in Cell, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed.
- Gut microbiome and pregnancy complications: emerging evidence and mechanistic insights.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Gut virome dysbiosis contributes to premature ovarian insufficiency by modulating gut bacteriome.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota signatures in primary aldosteronism and functional identification of an aldosterone-degrading gut bacterium.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- The urinary pathobiont Actinobaculum massiliense can generate androgens via the dirAB pathway.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Microbiome and chronic pelvic pain in women: a mini-review.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
- Large language models enhance annotation of enzymes in metagenomes.Science advances · 2026Article
- Article
- Interaction of the Gut Microbiota and the Enteric Nervous System: Implications in Gastrointestinal Disorders Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Review
- Maternal and infant gut microbiome.iMeta · 2026Review
- Gut Microbiota, Immunity, and Metabolism in the Progression From Chronic Liver Disease to Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Eggerthella lenta: metabolism, pathogenesis and therapeutic implications.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Gut microbiota in health and disease.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Gut Bacterial 20-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases Modify Endogenous Glucocorticoids and Corticosteroid Drugs.Biochemistry · 2026Article
- The microbiome regulates host metabolic health and diseases through microbial enzymes.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
- Characterization of an NADPH-dependent 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase from a urinary tract bacterial isolate.The Journal of steroid biochemistry and molecular biology · 2026Article
- Integrated Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals the Role of the Gut Microbiota-Metabolite-Endocrine Axis in Post-Weaning Estrus Recovery in Tibetan Pigs.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Problems in the use of chemical and functional nomenclatures for steroids in human physiology, biology and pharmacology.RSC advances · 2026Review
- Article
- Article
- Gut Microbiota Metabolic Reprogramming Drives Endocrine and Immune Resistance in Hormone-Dependent Cancers.Cancers · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Recent studies suggest that human-associated bacteria interact with host-produced steroids, but the mechanisms and physiological impact of such interactions remain unclear. Here, we show that the human gut bacteria Gordonibacter pamelaeae and Eggerthella lenta convert abundant biliary corticoids into progestins through 21-dehydroxylation, thereby transforming a class of immuno- and metabo-regulatory steroids into a class of sex hormones and neurosteroids. Using comparative genomics, homologous expression, and heterologous expression, we identify a bacterial gene cluster that performs 21-dehydroxylation. We also uncover an unexpected role for hydrogen gas production by gut commensals in promoting 21-dehydroxylation, suggesting that hydrogen modulates secondary metabolism in the gut. Levels of certain bacterial progestins, including allopregnanolone, better known as brexanolone, an FDA-approved drug for postpartum depression, are substantially increased in feces from pregnant humans. Thus, bacterial conversion of corticoids into progestins may affect host physiology, particularly in the context of pregnancy and women's health.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.