The Claim

In healthy young adults, the abundance of Bacteroides in the gut microbiome is strongly and consistently positively correlated with the gene expression of tryptophanase across dietary conditions, suggesting a functional relationship between this bacterial genus and the microbial metabolism of tryptophan.

Source: Effect of short-term dietary intervention on fecal serotonin, gut microbiome-derived tryptophanase, and energy absorption in a randomized crossover trial: an exploratory analysis

What the research says

Supports is higher

Support is ahead, but a single strong opposing study can change this.

Supports
68score
Challenges
0score

These are independent scores, not a percentage. Higher-grade studies count more, so a single strong opposing study can outweigh several weaker ones.

Correlation
1 study reviewed
In plain English

In healthy young adults, higher levels of Bacteroides bacteria in the gut are consistently linked to higher activity of the tryptophanase gene, indicating a relationship between this bacterium and the breakdown of tryptophan by gut microbes.

See the scientific wording

In healthy young adults, the abundance of Bacteroides in the gut microbiome is strongly and consistently positively correlated with the gene expression of tryptophanase across dietary conditions, suggesting a functional relationship between this bacterial genus and the microbial metabolism of tryptophan.

Why this might work

When Bacteroides bacteria are abundant in the gut, they produce more of an enzyme that breaks down a tryptophan-related compound, which changes how much of that compound ends up in the stool.

Verified mechanismbased on 1 study

What the research says

1 study
  1. Study: Effect of short-term dietary intervention on fecal serotonin, gut microbiome-derived tryptophanase, and energy absorption in a randomized crossover trial: an exploratory analysis

    Scientists found that in healthy young adults, the more Bacteroides bacteria there are in the gut, the more of the tryptophan-breaking enzyme is present — no matter if they ate more, less, or normal amounts of food. This shows the two are reliably linked.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies

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