Microbiome-dependent phytosterol sulfates production and tissue distribution in mice
Abstract
Microbial biotransformation of dietary lipids, such as cholesterol, influences host homeostasis. Despite extensive studies on animal sterols in host-microbiota interactions, the role of phytosterols in homeostasis remains unclear. In this study, we characterized phytosterol sulfates as microbiota-derived metabolites using untargeted lipidomic data mining. The levels of sitosterol sulfate (SIS), campesterol sulfate, and stigmasterol sulfate, the three major phytosterol sulfates, along with coprostanol sulfate, were reduced in the feces of germ-free mice compared with those of specific pathogen-free mice. We characterized a series of Bacteroidota species and their sterol sulfotransferases that produced phytosterol sulfates more efficiently than mammalian enzymes. Furthermore, SIS significantly accumulated in host tissues in a microbiota- and age-dependent manner, whereas unconjugated phytosterols were mostly undetectable. Our work provides insights into host-microbiome interactions via gut bacterial phytosterol metabolism.
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BibTeX
@article{tomita2026microbiomedependent,
title = {{Microbiome-dependent phytosterol sulfates production and tissue distribution in mice}},
author = {Koki Tomita and Takeru Nakano and Satoshi Morozumi and Nobuyuki Okahashi and Makoto Arita},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.117883},
url = {https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03266-9},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Microbiome-dependent phytosterol sulfates production and tissue distribution in mice
AU - Koki Tomita
AU - Takeru Nakano
AU - Satoshi Morozumi
AU - Nobuyuki Okahashi
AU - Makoto Arita
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - iScience
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117883
UR - https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03266-9
AB - Microbial biotransformation of dietary lipids, such as cholesterol, influences host homeostasis. Despite extensive studies on animal sterols in host-microbiota interactions, the role of phytosterols in homeostasis remains unclear. In this study, we characterized phytosterol sulfates as microbiota-derived metabolites using untargeted lipidomic data mining. The levels of sitosterol sulfate (SIS), campesterol sulfate, and stigmasterol sulfate, the three major phytosterol sulfates, along with coprostanol sulfate, were reduced in the feces of germ-free mice compared with those of specific pathogen-free mice. We characterized a series of Bacteroidota species and their sterol sulfotransferases that produced phytosterol sulfates more efficiently than mammalian enzymes. Furthermore, SIS significantly accumulated in host tissues in a microbiota- and age-dependent manner, whereas unconjugated phytosterols were mostly undetectable. Our work provides insights into host-microbiome interactions via gut bacterial phytosterol metabolism.
SN - 2589-0042
ER -