{"id":307050,"date":"2026-01-28T00:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T00:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/307050\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T00:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T00:31:14","slug":"genes-tie-gut-motility-to-surprising-nutrient-vitamin-b1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/307050\/","title":{"rendered":"Genes Tie Gut Motility to Surprising Nutrient: Vitamin B1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Analyzing data from more than 268,000 people, researchers found that genes involved in thiamine (vitamin B1) metabolism play a key role in gut motility, opening new avenues for personalized treatments of constipation and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"D\u00edaz-Mu\u00f1oz<\/a><\/p>\n

D\u00edaz-Mu\u00f1oz et al. identified therapeutically tractable mechanisms involved in the control of gut motility, including a previously unrecognized role for vitamin B1. Image credit: Hillman et al., doi: 10.1264\/jsme2.ME17017 \/ CC BY 4.0.<\/p>\n

Gastrointestinal motility underlies food digestion, nutrient absorption and waste elimination, making it essential for human health and well-being.<\/p>\n

Its regulation depends on a multifactorial network of communication involving the gut-brain axis, the immune system and the gut microbiome, and is further influenced by external factors such as diet, physical activity and medications.<\/p>\n

Alterations in the control of motility and peristalsis represent a key pathogenic mechanism in IBS and other disorders of gut-brain interaction, as well as in severe dysmotility conditions such as chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction.<\/p>\n

In a new study, Professor Mauro D\u2019Amato, a researcher at LUM University, CIC bioGUNE- BRTA and the Ikerbasque, and his colleagues used a large-scale genetics approach to search for common DNA differences associated with gut motility.<\/p>\n

They studied questionnaire and genetic data from 268,606 people of European and East Asian ancestry and used computational analyses to pinpoint which genes and mechanisms are most likely involved.<\/p>\n

They identified 21 regions of the human genome influencing bowel movement frequency, including 10 that had not been reported before.<\/p>\n

Several of the genetic signals pointed to pathways and mechanism already known to affect gut movement, which was reassuring because it means the results align with biology that makes sense.<\/p>\n

For example, the study highlighted bile-acid regulation (bile acids help digest fats and also act as signaling molecules in the gut) and nerve signaling relevant to intestinal muscle contractions (including acetylcholine-related signaling, which helps nerves communicate with muscle).<\/p>\n

But the most striking result emerged when the researchers narrowed down their findings to two high-priority genes converging on vitamin B1 biology, specifically genes linked to how thiamine is transported and activated in the body (SLC35F3 and XPR1).<\/p>\n

To explore whether this vitamin B1 signal shows up in real-world data, they then turned to additional dietary information from UK Biobank.<\/p>\n

In 98,449 participants, they found that higher dietary thiamine intake was associated with more frequent bowel movements.<\/p>\n

Importantly, the relationship between thiamine intake and bowel movement frequency differed depending on a person\u2019s genetic makeup at the SLC35F3 and XPR1 genes (analyzed together as a combined genetic score).<\/p>\n

In other words, the data suggest that inherited differences in thiamine handling may influence how vitamin B1 intake relates to bowel habits in the general population.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used genetics to build a roadmap of biological pathways that set the gut\u2019s pace,\u201d said Dr. Cristian Diaz-Mu\u00f1oz, a researcher at CIC bioGUNE- BRTA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat stood out was how strongly the data pointed to vitamin B1 metabolism, alongside established mechanisms like bile acids and nerve signaling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study also supports a meaningful biological overlap between bowel movement frequency and IBS, a common condition affecting millions worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cGut motility problems sit at the heart of IBS, constipation and other common gut-motility disorders, but the underlying biology is very hard to pin down,\u201d Professor D\u2019Amato said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese genetic results highlight specific pathways, especially vitamin B1, as testable leads for the next stage of research, including lab experiments and carefully designed clinical studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study<\/a> was published January 20, 2026 in the journal Gut.<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

C. D\u00edaz-Mu\u00f1oz et al. Genetic dissection of stool frequency implicates vitamin B1 metabolism and other actionable pathways in the modulation of gut motility. Gut, published online January 20, 2026; doi: 10.1136\/gutjnl-2025-337059<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Analyzing data from more than 268,000 people, researchers found that genes involved in thiamine (vitamin B1) metabolism play…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[277],"tags":[3286,18,3288,3289,39603,150611,135,19,17,31917,168,508,150612,150613,36809,150614,150615],"class_list":["post-307050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-dna","tag-eire","tag-gene","tag-genome","tag-gut","tag-gut-motility","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irritable-bowel-syndrome","tag-metabolism","tag-nutrition","tag-slc35f3","tag-thiamine","tag-vitamin","tag-vitamin-b1","tag-xpr1"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115969909261822676","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}