Roseburia

Depletion Across Disease States#

Roseburia depletion is among the most reproducible microbiome findings in human disease.

Cardiovascular disease: depleted in ACVD patients in the Jie et al. study; CAG4 containing Faecalibacterium and Roseburia was closely related to 10 serum metabolite modules and important for maintaining normal coronary physiology.^{[3]The gut microbiome in atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseaseZhuye Jie, Huihua Xia, Shi-Long Zhong et al. · 2017Open reference 3 ↓[4]Alterations in the gut microbiome and metabolism with coronary artery disease severityHonghong Liu, Xi Chen, Xiaomin Hu et al. · 2019Open reference 4 ↓[5]The potential links between human gut microbiota and cardiovascular health and disease - is there a gut-cardiovascular axis?Catia Almeida, J. Guilherme Goncalves-Nobre, Diogo Alpuim Costa et al. · 2023Open reference 5 ↓}

Hypertension: bidirectional Mendelian randomization links reduced Roseburia to elevated blood pressure.^{[6]Causality of gut microbiome and hypertension: A bidirectional mendelian randomization studyYihui Li, Ru Fu, Ruixuan Li et al. · 2023Open reference 6 ↓} IBD: reduced in both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis; inversely correlated with disease activity scores.^{[7]Synergic Interactions between Polyphenols and Gut Microbiota in Mitigating Inflammatory Bowel DiseasesLi H, Christman LM, Li R et al. · 2020Open reference 7 ↓}

Multiple sclerosis: depleted alongside other Lachnospiraceae members; loss reduces SCFA-mediated immune modulation.^{[8]Investigating the metabolite signature of an altered oral microbiota as a discriminant factor for multiple sclerosis: a pilot studyLéo Boussamet, Emmanuel Montassier, Camille Mathé et al. · 2024Open reference 8 ↓}

Colorectal cancer: reduced; butyrate loss diminishes anti-tumorigenic HDAC inhibition in colonocytes.^{[9]Diet, microbiota, and dysbiosis: a 'recipe' for colorectal cancerKishore Vipperla, Stephen J. O'Keefe · 2016Open reference 9 ↓[10]Dissecting the Role of the Gut Microbiome and Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in Radio- and Immunotherapy Treatment of Colorectal CancerLena Van Dingenen, Charlotte Segers, Shari Wouters et al. · 2023Open reference 10 ↓}

Type 2 diabetes: depleted; inversely correlated with HbA1c and insulin resistance.

Chronic kidney disease: depleted across CKD progression, contributing to loss of SCFA-mediated renal protection.^{[11]Tang et al. 2023 — Gut Microbiome Tango with CKD ProgressionTang, Lai, Bhatt · 2023Open reference 11 ↓[12]Yasuno et al. 2024 — Dysbiosis of Gut Microbiota in CKDYasuno, Nakahama, Kurogi et al. · 2024Open reference 12 ↓[13]Zhang 2023 — Metagenome-Wide Analysis of ESRD Microbiome and Uremic ToxinsZhang, Liao, Mei et al. · 2023Open reference 13 ↓}

Endometriosis: Roseburia sp. CAG:45 decreased in endometriosis.^{[14]Gut microbiome in endometriosis: a cohort study on 1000 individualsPerez-Prieto I, Vargas E, Salas-Espejo E et al. · 2024Open reference 14 ↓}

Parkinson's disease: depleted alongside other SCFA producers as part of the metal-driven Dysbiosis framework.^{[15]Microbial Metallomics and Parkinson's Disease: A Unified Metal-Driven Framework Linking Ferroptosis, Dysbiosis, and alpha-Synuclein PathologyKaren Pendergrass · 2025Open reference 15 ↓[16]Houser 2019 -- Microbiome and Inflammation in Parkinson's Disease ProgressionMadelyn C Houser, Malú G Tansey · 2019Open reference 16 ↓[17]Sampson 2024 -- A Microbiome Signature of Parkinson's DiseaseTimothy R Sampson, Andrew S Neish · 2024Open reference 17 ↓}

Schizophrenia: Roseburia is significantly depleted in schizophrenia patients (p=0.023), and its abundance is negatively correlated with fMRI regional homogeneity (ReHo) indices in the right superior temporal cortex, right middle temporal cortex, and left cuneus—brain regions showing decreased ReHo in schizophrenia.^{[2]The Gut Microbiome is Associated with Brain Structure and Function in SchizophreniaLi S, Song J, Ke P et al. · 2021Open reference 2 ↓}

Metal Sensitivity#

Roseburia is particularly sensitive to heavy metal stress, more so than many other gut commensals.

Iron-sulfur cluster enzymes in the butyrate synthesis pathway are vulnerable to disruption by Cadmium, Lead, and other toxic metals that compete for iron binding sites.

Under metal-stressed conditions, Roseburia is outcompeted by siderophore-producing Enterobacteriaceae that aggressively scavenge Iron, compounding its depletion. This metal sensitivity positions Roseburia as an early biomarker for environmental metal exposure effects on the Gut Microbiome.

Key Metabolites#

Butyrate—primary output; HDAC inhibitor, colonocyte fuel, Treg inducer. Acetate—secondary fermentation product; feeds acetogenic pathways. Formate—minor product; serves as electron carrier in anaerobic cross-feeding.

Flagellin—immunostimulatory protein from R. hominis that promotes beneficial TLR5 signaling.