Trapping gut bacteria's hidden fuel improves blood sugar and liver health https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-gut-bacteria-hidden-fuel-blood.html A new way to improve blood sugar levels and reduce liver damage: by trapping a little-known fuel made by gut bacteria before they wreak havoc on the body https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413125003286 "Since the portal circulation connects the gut and liver, we hypothesized that gut microbiota-derived D-lactate participates in host metabolism related to hepatic control of blood glucose and liver fat. We found that D-lactate participates in host glucose and lipid metabolism and that a single strain of bacteria that produces more D-lactate can raise blood glucose in mice. We also hypothesized that sequestration and elimination of gut microbiota-derived D-lactate before it crosses the gut barrier using a substrate trap of D-lactate produced by bacteria in the lumen of the gut would lower blood glucose during obesity and lower a trigger for liver inflammation during MAFLD. We designed a new biocompatible D-lactate gut substrate trap and found that oral delivery of this polymer lowered blood glucose, markers of insulin resistance, and hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in obese mice."