Animal study · Nutrition · 8 Nov 2026
In mice, a gut bacterium that makes ornithine lined up with less alcohol-related liver injury, and flaxseed oil raised that bacterium
Source: Gut Microbes
What the research found
A study was published online on 8 November 2026. The print issue is dated 31 December 2026. Hao Shu, Ling Xu, and colleagues compared 16S sequencing from a cohort of people with alcohol-associated liver disease with the NIAAA mouse model. The abstract used here does not give the size or the sex of the human cohort. Bacteroides uniformis was depleted in the patient samples. Giving live B. uniformis to mice reduced fatty liver, inflammation, and oxidative stress. The metabolic work pointed to ornithine made by the bacterium. Giving ornithine itself reproduced much of that protection in mice. Ornithine raised hepatic Sirt4, and blocking Sirt4 removed the effect. Dietary flaxseed oil increased intestinal B. uniformis and hepatic Sirt4 in mice and improved the liver findings in that model. Mouse work is not a flaxseed plan for people. DOI 10.1080/19490976.2026.2756713. Not medical advice.
Evidence level: Animal study. Results in animals or cells often don't carry over to people.
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