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Sepsis

Intestinal microbiome metabolites control sepsis outcome

Nature Immunology volume 26, pages 155–156 (2025)Cite this article

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Sepsis results from a dysregulated immune response to infection. A study now shows that gut microbiota-derived metabolites prevent infection-triggered immunopathology by activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor; pathogens inhibit this protective mechanism.

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Fig. 1: Intestinal microbiome–pathogen interplay in AhR function controls sepsis outcome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Carolina M. Polonio & Francisco J. Quintana

  2. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Francisco J. Quintana

  3. Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Francisco J. Quintana

Authors
  1. Carolina M. Polonio
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  2. Francisco J. Quintana
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Correspondence to Francisco J. Quintana.

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Polonio, C.M., Quintana, F.J. Intestinal microbiome metabolites control sepsis outcome. Nat Immunol 26, 155–156 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-024-02050-1

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