Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Mar 11, 2026 1 hour, 50 minutes ago
Medical News: Scientists Discover Dangerous Interaction Between Gut Microbes and Cholesterol
Colorectal cancer remains one of the most common cancers worldwide, and researchers are still uncovering the biological mechanisms that drive its development. A new scientific review now highlights a powerful and potentially dangerous relationship between gut bacteria and cholesterol metabolism that could play a major role in triggering and accelerating colon cancer.
New research reveals how harmful gut bacteria and cholesterol metabolism interact to promote colorectal cancer
Scientists from the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics and the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences at the CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University in Canada, and the Department of Biology at the University of Toronto explored how gut microbes and cholesterol metabolism interact in colorectal cancer.
Their findings reveal that disruptions in gut bacteria can alter how the body processes cholesterol, creating biological conditions that may promote tumor development.
When Gut Bacteria Become Dangerous
The human digestive tract contains trillions of microorganisms collectively known as the gut microbiota. These microbes normally help maintain digestive health, regulate immunity, and assist with metabolism. However, when the balance of these microbes is disturbed, harmful bacteria can dominate.
Researchers found that certain cancer-associated bacteria can directly influence cholesterol production inside colon cells. For example, microbes such as Peptostreptococcus anaerobius and Fusobacterium nucleatum have been shown to stimulate cellular pathways that increase cholesterol synthesis.
This increase in cholesterol inside colon cells can create a favorable environment for tumor growth. Cancer cells require large amounts of cholesterol to build cell membranes and support rapid cell division. When bacteria stimulate excessive cholesterol production, they may effectively provide cancer cells with the resources needed to expand.
This
Medical News report highlights how this interaction between microbes and cholesterol creates a complex biological feedback loop that may accelerate colorectal cancer development.
Toxic Bile Acids Produced by Gut Microbes
Another major discovery involves bile acids, which are compounds derived from cholesterol in the liver that help digest fats. When these bile acids enter the colon, gut bacteria can chemically modify them into secondary bile acids.
Some of these secondary bile acids are highly toxic to colon cells. They can trigger oxidative stress, damage DNA, and disrupt the normal repair systems that protect cells from mutations.
Over time, repeated exposure to these compounds may increase the likelihood of genetic mutations in critical cancer-related genes. These mutations can initiate the transformation of nor
mal colon cells into cancer cells.
In addition, toxic bile acids can weaken the intestinal barrier and promote chronic inflammation. Both of these conditions are known risk factors for colorectal cancer.
Oxidized Cholesterol Compounds Also Play a Role
The researchers also examined molecules known as oxysterols, which are oxidized forms of cholesterol. These compounds can form when cholesterol undergoes chemical reactions triggered by oxidative stress.
Oxysterols can act as powerful signaling molecules that influence inflammation, immune responses, and cell growth. Some oxysterols stimulate inflammatory pathways that encourage tumor development and weaken anti-tumor immune defenses.
Certain oxysterols can also activate cellular signaling pathways linked to cancer growth, invasion, and metastasis. Although a few oxysterols may show anti-cancer effects under laboratory conditions, their overall impact in the human intestine is still being studied.
Beneficial Bacteria May Help Lower Cancer Risk
Despite these concerning mechanisms, the researchers emphasize that beneficial gut bacteria may offer protective effects. Certain bacterial groups, including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, can lower cholesterol levels in the gut by absorbing cholesterol or converting it into compounds that cannot be reabsorbed by the body.
By reducing the amount of available cholesterol, these beneficial microbes may limit the resources that cancer cells need to grow.
Diet also plays an important role in shaping the gut microbiome. Diets rich in fiber encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria and help bind harmful bile acids, while high-fat diets may increase the production of carcinogenic bile acids and disrupt microbial balance.
Conclusions
The research highlights a complex and potentially dangerous relationship between gut bacteria and cholesterol metabolism in colorectal cancer. Harmful microbes can stimulate cholesterol production, generate toxic bile acids, and create inflammatory conditions that promote tumor formation. At the same time, disrupted cholesterol metabolism can further alter the gut microbiome, reinforcing a cycle that may accelerate cancer development. Understanding this interaction could lead to new strategies for preventing colorectal cancer through diet, microbiome therapies, and targeted treatments that restore healthy cholesterol balance in the gut.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/6/2553
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Medical News.
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/cancer
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