{"id":231574,"date":"2026-02-18T14:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/gut-derived-metabolite-hippuric-acid-turns-up-immune-inflammation-study-finds"},"modified":"2026-02-18T14:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:06:16","slug":"gut-derived-metabolite-hippuric-acid-turns-up-immune-inflammation-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/gut-derived-metabolite-hippuric-acid-turns-up-immune-inflammation-study-finds","title":{"rendered":"Gut-derived metabolite hippuric acid \u2018turns up\u2019 immune inflammation, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/gut-derived-metabolite-hippuric-acid-turns-up-immune-inflammation-study-finds2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Scientists at The Wistar Institute have identified a previously overlooked mediator in the body\u2019s response to life-threatening infections: hippuric acid, a metabolite produced when gut bacteria break down polyphenols from berries, tea, and other plant-based foods. The research reveals that this molecule acts as an immune-system amplifier, boosting the body\u2019s inflammatory defenses during early infection but elevating them to deadly levels when infections progress to sepsis.<\/p>\n<p>Published in Cell Reports, the study demonstrates that elevated hippuric acid levels correlate with increased mortality in sepsis patients, while also uncovering the molecular mechanisms by which this metabolite modifies immune responses. The findings could lead to new approaches for managing severe infections and, potentially, for treating pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHippuric acid is a metabolite that has historically been seen as a benign byproduct of metabolism and is therefore understudied,\u201d said Rahul S. Shinde, D.V.M., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program at the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center at The Wistar Institute and senior author of the study. \u201cThis paper identifies that it\u2019s not just a passive byproduct. It has bioactive potential to influence the immune system.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists at The Wistar Institute have identified a previously overlooked mediator in the body\u2019s response to life-threatening infections: hippuric acid, a metabolite produced when gut bacteria break down polyphenols from berries, tea, and other plant-based foods. The research reveals that this molecule acts as an immune-system amplifier, boosting the body\u2019s inflammatory defenses during early infection [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":707,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1506],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/707"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}