ArticleJournal of the American Heart Association2026
Phenylacetic Acid, a Gut Microbially Produced Metabolite, Reduces Atherosclerosis Burden and Impacts Host Lipid Homeostasis.
Article in Journal of the American Heart Association, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGut microbial metabolism of dietary phenylalanine produces phenylacetic acid (PAA), followed by the host conversion to phenylacetylglutamine in humans and phenylacetylglycine in mice. Phenylacetylglutamine was linked to cardiovascular disease risk in multiple clinical studies, yet whether the microbial pathways leading to PAA/phenylacetylglutamine/phenylacetylglycine formation influence atherosclerosis progression within the host remains elusive.
methodsAtheroprone
resultsCirculating levels of phenylacetylglutamine and phenylacetylglycine were increased by the treatment without affecting circulating cholesterol or inflammatory cytokines. In male mice, PAA elevated triglycerides and fasting glucose. PAA decreased the total atherosclerotic plaque burden within the descending and abdominal aortas of both sexes and within brachiocephalic arteries in male mice without affecting plaque stability indices. PAA altered gut microbial composition but did not markedly shift production of established atherosclerosis-related microbial metabolites, aside from a modest rise in indoxyl sulfate in female mice. Furthermore, PAA treatment decreased circulating levels of acyl- and free carnitines through reduced availability of their biosynthetic precursors and upregulated expression of genes involved in peroxisomal lipid metabolism.
conclusionsThese results offer new insights into the impact of gut-microbial metabolism of phenylalanine on host metabolism and atherosclerosis progression. Our findings suggest that clinical associations between phenylacetylglutamine and cardiovascular disease risk are unlikely to be driven by increased atherosclerosis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.