Nitrogen recycling by the gut microbiome in sarcopenia

The study looked at whether gut bacteria can “recycle” nitrogen in people with liver cirrhosis—an effect seen in some animals that helps preserve muscle—and compared patients with and without sarcopenia (muscle loss). We found that patients with sarcopenia had a lower predicted abundance of microbial urease (an enzyme linked to nitrogen recycling), and that common medications such as proton pump inhibitors and beta-blockers were associated with differences in this urease signal. Overall, the findings suggest the gut microbiome’s nitrogen-handling capacity may be linked to muscle health in cirrhosis and could be a future target for supportive therapies.