preclinical_heavy
Preclinical evidence exceeds central human evidence. Interpret translational relevance cautiously.
supportedtophigh inflation risk
Propionate production
obesity
Propionate production has meaningful literature visibility in obesity, but the current evidence mix suggests a substantial risk of overclaiming.
Propionate production shows a moderate evidence base in obesity, with multiple central papers and additional supporting literature.
propionate_production
Credibility score
54
Human translation
2/5
Reproducibility
5/5
Novelty
2/5
Actionability
3/5
Credibility 54Human translation 2/5Reproducibility 5/5Novelty 2/5Actionability 3/5
Why this scores the way it does
- moderate central evidence base
- dense review literature
- substantial preclinical support
Main caveats
- preclinical evidence outweighs human evidence
- retrieval noise or disease-specificity issues may remain
Internal review flags
2 flagsreview_heavy
Review literature is very dense relative to primary central evidence.
Primary central evidence
12 papersImpact of dietary fiber fermentation from cereal grains on metabolite production by the fecal microbiota from normal weight and obese individuals.
2013Journal of medicinal food
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
Effects of targeted delivery of propionate to the human colon on appetite regulation, body weight maintenance and adiposity in overweight adults.
2015Gut
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
Causal relationships among the gut microbiome, short-chain fatty acids and metabolic diseases.
2019Nature genetics
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
Gut microbiota modulation with long-chain corn bran arabinoxylan in adults with overweight and obesity is linked to an individualized temporal increase in fecal propionate.
2020Microbiome
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
Taxonomic Characterization and Short-Chain Fatty Acids Production of the Obese Microbiota.
2021Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
In vitro fermentability of a broad range of natural ingredients by fecal microbiota from lean and obese individuals: potential health benefits.
2022International journal of food sciences and nutrition
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
Gut microbiota induces DNA methylation via SCFAs predisposing obesity-prone individuals to diabetes.
2022Pharmacological research
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
Soy protein β-conglycinin ameliorates pressure overload-induced heart failure by increasing short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing gut microbiota and intestinal SCFAs.
2024Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
The gut microbiota-derived metabolite indole-3-propionic acid enhances leptin sensitivity by targeting STAT3 against diet-induced obesity.
2024Clinical and translational medicine
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
The direct and indirect inhibition of proinflammatory adipose tissue macrophages by acarbose in diet-induced obesity.
2025Cell reports. Medicine
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
Exploring the relationship between APOEε4 allele and gut microbiota composition and function in healthy adults.
2025AMB Express
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
Differential effects of inulin and fructooligosaccharides on gut microbiota composition and glycemic metabolism in overweight/obese and healthy individuals: a randomized, double-blind clinical trial.
2025BMC medicine
Direct disease-relevant human paper with strong clinical, biomarker, or mechanistic framing.
Preclinical supporting evidence
15 papersGamma-aminobutyric Acid Enriched Rice Bran Diet Attenuates Insulin Resistance and Balances Energy Expenditure via Modification of Gut Microbiota and Short-Chain Fatty Acids.
2018Journal of agricultural and food chemistry
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Dietary supplementation with inulin-propionate ester or inulin improves insulin sensitivity in adults with overweight and obesity with distinct effects on the gut microbiota, plasma metabolome and systemic inflammatory responses: a randomised cross-over trial.
2019Gut
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
MICOM: Metagenome-Scale Modeling To Infer Metabolic Interactions in the Gut Microbiota.
2020mSystems
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Imidazole propionate is increased in diabetes and associated with dietary patterns and altered microbial ecology.
2020Nature communications
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
A Metagenomics Investigation of Intergenerational Effects of Non-nutritive Sweeteners on Gut Microbiome.
2021Frontiers in nutrition
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Differential effects of the soluble fiber inulin in reducing adiposity and altering gut microbiome in aging mice.
2022The Journal of nutritional biochemistry
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Indole-3-Propionic Acid Protects Against Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.
2024Circulation research
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Jiawei Buzhong Yiqi Decoction attenuates polycystic ovary syndrome through regulating kisspeptin-GPR54-AKT-SHBG system.
2024Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Beneficial effects of MGL-3196 and BAM15 combination in a mouse model of fatty liver disease.
2024Acta physiologica (Oxford, England)
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
The microbial metabolite imidazole propionate dysregulates bone homeostasis by inhibiting AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling.
2024Communications biology
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Circulating metabolite signatures indicate differential gut-liver crosstalk in lean and obese MASLD.
2025JCI insight
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Gut microbiome composition and metabolic activity in metabolic-associated fatty liver disease.
2025Virulence
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Acidipropionibacterium acidipropionici, a propionate-producing bacterium, contributes to GPR41 signaling and metabolic regulation in high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice.
2025Frontiers in nutrition
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Indole-3 propionate inhibits NF-κB/NLRP3-mediated osteoclastogenesis and improves bone quality in high-fat-diet induced obese mice.
2025Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Postbiotic potential of SCFAs on metaflammation and gut microbiota alteration in diabetes.
2025Journal of biosciences
Disease-relevant preclinical or model-based paper useful as supporting evidence.
Review supporting evidence
24 papersShort-chain fatty acids in control of body weight and insulin sensitivity.
2015Nature reviews. Endocrinology
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
The neuropharmacology of butyrate: The bread and butter of the microbiota-gut-brain axis?
2016Neurochemistry international
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Beneficial actions of microbiota-derived tryptophan metabolites.
2018Neurogastroenterology and motility
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Thyroid hormone metabolites and analogues.
2019Endocrine
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Gut microbiota and its mysteries.
2019Indian journal of medical microbiology
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Short chain fatty acids in human gut and metabolic health.
2020Beneficial microbes
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
The Role of Dietary Fibre in Modulating Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.
2020Nutrients
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
The Protective Role of Butyrate against Obesity and Obesity-Related Diseases.
2021Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Short-Chain Fatty Acids, Maternal Microbiota and Metabolism in Pregnancy.
2021Nutrients
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Effects of cereal fibers on short-chain fatty acids in healthy subjects and patients: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.
2021Food & function
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Gut Microbiota and Short Chain Fatty Acids: Implications in Glucose Homeostasis.
2022International journal of molecular sciences
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Gut Microbiota-Derived Tryptophan Metabolites Maintain Gut and Systemic Homeostasis.
2022Cells
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Gut and obesity/metabolic disease: Focus on microbiota metabolites.
2022MedComm
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Health Benefits and Side Effects of Short-Chain Fatty Acids.
2022Foods (Basel, Switzerland)
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Advances in multi-omics study of biomarkers of glycolipid metabolism disorder.
2022Computational and structural biotechnology journal
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Protective role of butyrate in obesity and diabetes: New insights.
2022Frontiers in nutrition
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Exploration of gut microbiome and inflammation: A review on key signalling pathways.
2024Cellular signalling
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Survodutide in MASH: bridging the gap between hepatic and systemic metabolic dysfunction.
2024Expert opinion on investigational drugs
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Angiogenesis, a key point in the association of gut microbiota and its metabolites with disease.
2024European journal of medical research
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Gut Microbiota: An Important Participant in Childhood Obesity.
2025Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.)
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
The emerging role of dysregulated propionate metabolism and methylmalonic acid in metabolic disease, aging, and cancer.
2025Cell metabolism
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Metabolic rewiring and inter-organ crosstalk in diabetic HFpEF.
2025Cardiovascular diabetology
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
The future of target-controlled infusion and new pharmacokinetic models.
2025Current opinion in anaesthesiology
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.
Akkermansia muciniphila: A key player in gut microbiota-based disease modulation.
2025Microbiological research
Relevant review or meta-analysis for the signal-disease area.