A collaborative study with Ikuo Kimura at Kyoto University has revealed that Streptococcus salivarius, a common resident of the human gastrointestinal tract, and the indigestible polysaccharide (EPS) it produces from sucrose, may help prevent sucrose-induced obesity by improving the gut environment.
These findings suggest a novel mechanism by which gut-resident bacteria contribute to metabolic health.
The results of this study have been published online in Nature Communications.
Reference
Shimizu, H., Miyamoto, J., Hisa, K. et al. Sucrose-preferring gut microbes prevent host obesity by producing exopolysaccharides. Nat Commun 16, 1145 (2025).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56470-0
