Work

Intact pulse cotyledon cell diet improves systemic growth via the somatotropic axis in malnourished mice

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Malnutrition, often associated with dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, requires effective dietary interventions. This study evaluated the effects of diets containing intact pulse cotyledon cells (MAL-IC diet) or pulse flour (MAL-PF diet) within a malnourished mouse model. The MAL-IC diet significantly improved systemic growth compared with the malnutrition (MAL: low-fat [2%], low-protein [6.4%]) diet group, outperforming the MAL-PF diet. Additionally, the MAL-IC diet restructured the gut microbiota and metabolome, increasing the relative abundance of carbohydrate-utilizing bacteria and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Notably, the MAL-IC diet stimulated the somatotropic axis, thereby promoting higher insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) production across multiple tissues. Integration of gene expression data revealed that SCFAs activated hepatic free fatty acid receptor 2 (FFAR2) via the gut-liver axis, further stimulating the somatotropic axis to promote growth. These results demonstrate that an intact cell-based diet restores growth through microbiota-SCFA-endocrine interactions and propose a pulse-enriched food strategy to address malnutrition.

Source: iMetaOmics.

DOI: 10.1002/imo2.70085

Authors: Yumeng Yan, Zhuqing Xie, Zhipeng Gu, Zhongxin Li, Qiang Huang, Bin Zhang

Institutions: Key Laboratory of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety, South China University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Gut microbiota and health

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Zero hunger, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China