ArticleNature metabolism2025
Short-chain fatty acid metabolites propionate and butyrate are unique epigenetic regulatory elements linking diet, metabolism and gene expression.
Article in Nature metabolism, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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
104 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Natural products alleviate exercise-induced fatigue by modulating gut microbiota: a systematic review.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The modulatory role of short-chain fatty acids on peripheral circadian gene expression: a systematic review.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Pooled it
- Circadian synchronization between diet and gut microbiota in modulating host's health.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- From signals to systems: the epigenetic-microbiome-mitochondrial axis in IBD pathogenesis.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Spatiotemporal dynamics of the host-tumor metabolic interface: Implications for precision nutritional oncology.Genes & diseases · 2026Review
- Exerkines in precision management of metabolic diseases.Chinese medical journal · 2026Review
- The Gut Microbiota-Metabolite-Host Axis in Cardiometabolic Diseases: Bridging Bench to Bedside.Cardiovascular drugs and therapy · 2026Review
- Propionic acidemia as a framework for understanding the impact of disturbed propionyl-CoA on histone modifications.Biochemical Society transactions · 2026Review
- Article
- Nutrigenomics and Epigenetic Regulation in Cancer Prevention: Molecular Mechanisms, Dietary Bioactives, and Translational Perspectives.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Integrated multiomics analysis reveals metabolic and microbiome alterations in Wilson disease.iScience · 2026Article
- Insights into Microbiota-Vaccine Crosstalk in Humans: Mechanisms, Modulators, and Translational Horizons.Vaccines · 2026Review
- From metabolites to membrane vesicles: Unifying gut microbial signals in obesity, t2dm, and MASLD.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Review
- Metabolites with a message: impacts on epigenetics and implications for epimetabopathies.EMBO reports · 2026Review
- Review
- Prognostic value of genes associated with metastasis and propionate metabolism in rectal cancer.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Article
- A comprehensive study of intratumor bacteria in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma identifiesmSystems · 2026Article
- Potential Role of Prebiotics and Probiotics on Oocyte Quality, Embryo Development, Endometrial Health, and Fertility Outcomes in Assisted Reproductive Technologies.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Review
- Post-translational modifications in metabolic reprogramming: implications for metabolic therapy and immunotherapy in cancer.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Update of
- Update of
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) propionate and butyrate have beneficial health effects, are produced in large amounts by microbial metabolism and have been identified as unique acyl lysine histone marks. To better understand the function of these modifications, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing to map the genome-wide location of four short-chain acyl histone marks, H3K18pr, H3K18bu, H4K12pr and H4K12bu, in treated and untreated colorectal cancer (CRC) and normal cells as well as in mouse intestines in vivo. We correlate these marks with open chromatin regions and gene expression to access the function of the target regions. Our data demonstrate that propionate and butyrate bind and act as promoters of genes involved in growth, differentiation and ion transport. We propose a mechanism involving direct modification of specific genomic regions by SCFAs resulting in increased chromatin accessibility and, in the case of butyrate, opposing effects on the proliferation of normal versus CRC cells.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.