Microbiota-Derived Lactate Activates Production of Reactive Oxygen Species by the Intestinal NADPH Oxidase Nox and Shortens Drosophila Lifespan (Immunity)

Iatsenko et al. find that flies bearing a mutation in a peptidoglycan recognition protein exhibit dysbiosis and shortened lifespan. In these flies, the unrestricted growth of a commensal bacterium generates excessive lactate, which triggers ROS production in intestinal cells and subsequent dysplasia. This ROS-producing pathway is conserved, suggesting relevance of such host-microbe metabolic crosstalk in age-related pathologies in humans.