Peer-reviewed research · Updated quarterly
Our team publishes openly in peer-reviewed journals across metabolic health, gut–brain biology, and clinical nutrition. Selected publications from our scientific advisors and collaborators are listed below.
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Huiting Ou, Shuji Kawaguchi, François Brial, et al.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 26;15(1):31337. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-12305-y. PMID: 40858625; PMCID: PMC12381251.
Metabolomics is a powerful molecular phenotyping technology which can be used in population studies to identify metabolites underlying disease conditions. To identify plasma biomarkers potentially predicting chronic diseases we applied 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics using a 600 MHz spectrometer fitted with an In Vitro Diagnostics Research (IVDr) platform to test associations between 18 known metabolites and 111 lipoprotein constituents that could be quantified and passed our quality control procedure and 944 phenotypes determined in 302 healthy participants of the Japanese Nagahama Study...
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François Brial, Géraldine Puel, et el.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 24;19(10):e0310370. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310370. eCollection 2024
4-cresol (4-methylphenol, p-cresol) is a xenobiotic substance negatively correlated with type 2 diabetes and associated with health improvement in preclinical models of diabetes. We aimed at refining our understanding of the physiological role of this metabolite and identifying potential signalling mechanisms. Functional studies revealed that 4-cresol does not deteriorate insulin sensitivity in human primary adipocytes and exhibits an additive effect to that of insulin on insulin sensitivity in mouse C2C12 myoblasts. Experiments in mouse isolated islets showed that 4-cresol potentiates glucose induced insulin secretion...
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Huiting Ou, Shuji Kawaguchi, et al.
Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 25;13(1):13926. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-40697-2.
Gut-microbiota derived metabolites are important regulators of host biology and metabolism. To understand the impacts of the microbial metabolite 4-cresol sulfate (4-CS) on four chronic diseases [type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome (MetS), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease (CKD)], we conducted association analyses of plasma 4-CS quantified by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in 3641 participants of the Nagahama study. Our results validated the elevation of 4-CS in CKD and identified a reducing trend in MetS. To delineate the holistic effects of 4-CS, we performed a phenome-wide association...
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Francois Brial, Fawaz Alzaid, Kazuhiro Sonomura, et al.
Cell Rep. 2020 Feb 18;30(7):2306-2320.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.01.066.
Exposure to natural metabolites contributes to the risk of cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs). Through metabolome profiling, we identify the inverse correlation between serum concentrations of 4-cresol and type 2 diabetes. The chronic administration of non-toxic doses of 4-cresol in complementary preclinical models of CMD reduces adiposity, glucose intolerance, and liver triglycerides, enhances insulin secretion in vivo, stimulates islet density and size, and pancreatic β-cell proliferation, and increases vascularization, suggesting activated islet enlargement. In vivo insulin sensitivity is not affected by 4-cresol. The incubation of mouse isolated islets with 4-cresol results...
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