ArticleNature microbiology2025
Human gut bacteria bioaccumulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Article in Nature microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 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
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- Gut Prevotella stercorea associates with protection against infection in rural African children.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- The microbiota at the interface of environmental toxicants and the brain.Cell metabolism · 2026Review
- Drug-microbiome-host interactions: antimicrobial effects of non-antibiotic compounds.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
- Common xenobiotics modulate gut microbial responses to low‑calorie sweeteners in vitro.Molecular systems biology · 2026Article
- A per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances-based gene signature links prognosis to immune landscapes in thyroid cancer.Translational cancer research · 2026Article
- Beyond structure: spectroscopic imaging in cryogenic electron microscopy.Current opinion in structural biology · 2026Review
- Inhalation of cadmium oxide nanoparticles alters intestinal and pulmonary microbiomes in mice.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Metabolism-disrupting compounds and metabolic health during the menopausal transition: a narrative review.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Review
- Subcellular chemical mapping using correlated cryogenic electron and mass spectrometry imaging.Nature methods · 2026Article
- Probiotic and Microbial Enzymatic Mechanisms for PFAS Detoxification.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Review
- Article
- Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) Alters the Structure of the Gut Microbial Community and Colonoid Transcription.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Article
- The Human Exposome: Integrating the Environment, Human Health, and Society for the Next 60 years.Environmental science & technology · 2026Review
- Cryo-HIM-SIMS on the npSCOPE: Correlative Topographic, Transmitted and SIMS Imaging at Cryogenic Temperatures.Analytical chemistry · 2026Article
- Advancing microbiology through foundational science.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Human Intestinal Microbiota Composition Shapes Model Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Biotransformation.Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology · 2026Article
- Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water and cancer prevalence in the United States.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026Article
- The future of microbiology.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- From Exposure to Dysfunction: The Intestinal Toxicity of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances.Toxics · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
25 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent pollutants that pose major environmental and health concerns. While few environmental bacteria have been reported to bind PFAS, the interaction of PFAS with human-associated gut bacteria is unclear. Here we report the bioaccumulation of PFAS by 38 gut bacterial strains ranging in concentration from nanomolar to 500 μM. Bacteroides uniformis showed notable PFAS accumulation resulting in millimolar intracellular concentrations while retaining growth. In Escherichia coli, bioaccumulation increased in the absence of the TolC efflux pump, indicating active transmembrane transport. Cryogenic focused ion beam secondary-ion mass spectrometry confirmed intracellular localization of the PFAS perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) in E. coli. Proteomic and metabolomic analysis of PFNA-treated cells, and the mutations identified following laboratory evolution, support these findings. Finally, mice colonized with human gut bacteria showed higher PFNA levels in excreted faeces than germ-free controls or those colonized with low-bioaccumulating bacteria. Together, our findings uncover the high PFAS bioaccumulation capacity of gut bacteria.
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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.