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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDNature communications

Early coconut oil exposure suppresses chronic experimental Crohn's disease via myristic acid and enhanced regulatory T cells.

  • Alex Rodriguez-Palacios1,2,3,4
  • Abigail Raffner Basson5,6,7
  • Paola Menghini5,6
  • Jessica Ezeji5
  • Ashley Trotter5
  • Nitish Rana8
  • Wendy Goodman8
  • Ganapati H Mahabaleshwar8
  • Wei Xin8
  • Theresa T Pizarro6,8
  • Colleen M Croniger7
  • Alexander Miron9
5 more authors
  • Yehe Liu10,11
  • Michael W Jenkins10,11,12
  • Mark S Sundrud13,14,15
  • Ilya R Bederman16
  • Fabio Cominelli17,18
18 affiliations
  1. 1Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA. [email protected].
  2. 2Digestive Health Research Institute, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA. [email protected].
  3. 3University Hospitals Education and Research Institute, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA. [email protected].
  4. 4Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA. [email protected].
  5. 5Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
  6. 6Digestive Health Research Institute, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
  7. 7Department of Nutrition, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
  8. 8Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
  9. 9Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
  10. 10Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
  11. 11Center for Imaging Research, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
  12. 12FES Center, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
  13. 13Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health, Dartmouth Health, Lebanon, NH, USA.
  14. 14Department of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA.
  15. 15Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA.
  16. 16Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
  17. 17Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA. [email protected].
  18. 18Digestive Health Research Institute, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA. [email protected].
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Abstract

Public health advisory guidelines caution against the consumption of saturated fats, especially coconut oil (CO), yet CO is widely consumed in regions with low inflammatory bowel disease prevalence (IBD) and is often perceived as beneficial by IBD patients. CO is rich in medium-chain saturated fatty acids, notably lauric acid (C12:0) and myristic acid (C14:0) which are negligible in mammalian tissues without dietary intake. Because IBD is linked to saturated fats consumption, here we tested and unexpectedly found that CO and its saturated fatty acids are beneficial suppressing intestinal inflammation in SAMP1/YitFc mice, a chronic IBD model of Crohn's disease-like ileitis. In young mice, the early exposure to a high-dose CO-based diet prevented ileitis in 63.64% of animals (95%CI = 30.79-to-89.07%). Importantly, comparable protection was observed at lower doses amenable for human translation. Although CO did not reverse established disease in adult mice, when combined with steroids, it prolonged the period of steroid-induced remission illustrating its therapeutic benefits in IBD. Disease prevention was associated with myristic acid and correlated with anti-inflammatory microbiota shifts and enhanced regulatory T-cell responses, without adverse effects. Findings challenge current dietary advisories against CO and support reevaluation of CO and myristic acid as anti-inflammatory dietary adjuvants for the prevention and management of established IBD.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{rodriguezpalacios2026early,
  title = {{Early coconut oil exposure suppresses chronic experimental Crohn's disease via myristic acid and enhanced regulatory T cells.}},
  author = {Alex Rodriguez-Palacios and Abigail Raffner Basson and Paola Menghini and Jessica Ezeji and Ashley Trotter and Nitish Rana and Wendy Goodman and Ganapati H Mahabaleshwar and Wei Xin and Theresa T Pizarro and Colleen M Croniger and Alexander Miron and Yehe Liu and Michael W Jenkins and Mark S Sundrud and Ilya R Bederman and Fabio Cominelli},
  journal = {Nature communications},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-74896-y},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42875437},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Early coconut oil exposure suppresses chronic experimental Crohn's disease via myristic acid and enhanced regulatory T cells.
AU  - Alex Rodriguez-Palacios
AU  - Abigail Raffner Basson
AU  - Paola Menghini
AU  - Jessica Ezeji
AU  - Ashley Trotter
AU  - Nitish Rana
AU  - Wendy Goodman
AU  - Ganapati H Mahabaleshwar
AU  - Wei Xin
AU  - Theresa T Pizarro
AU  - Colleen M Croniger
AU  - Alexander Miron
AU  - Yehe Liu
AU  - Michael W Jenkins
AU  - Mark S Sundrud
AU  - Ilya R Bederman
AU  - Fabio Cominelli
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/14
JO  - Nature communications
DO  - 10.1038/s41467-026-74896-y
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42875437
AB  - Public health advisory guidelines caution against the consumption of saturated fats, especially coconut oil (CO), yet CO is widely consumed in regions with low inflammatory bowel disease prevalence (IBD) and is often perceived as beneficial by IBD patients. CO is rich in medium-chain saturated fatty acids, notably lauric acid (C12:0) and myristic acid (C14:0) which are negligible in mammalian tissues without dietary intake. Because IBD is linked to saturated fats consumption, here we tested and unexpectedly found that CO and its saturated fatty acids are beneficial suppressing intestinal inflammation in SAMP1/YitFc mice, a chronic IBD model of Crohn's disease-like ileitis. In young mice, the early exposure to a high-dose CO-based diet prevented ileitis in 63.64% of animals (95%CI = 30.79-to-89.07%). Importantly, comparable protection was observed at lower doses amenable for human translation. Although CO did not reverse established disease in adult mice, when combined with steroids, it prolonged the period of steroid-induced remission illustrating its therapeutic benefits in IBD. Disease prevention was associated with myristic acid and correlated with anti-inflammatory microbiota shifts and enhanced regulatory T-cell responses, without adverse effects. Findings challenge current dietary advisories against CO and support reevaluation of CO and myristic acid as anti-inflammatory dietary adjuvants for the prevention and management of established IBD.
SN  - 2041-1723
ER  -