Butyrate For the fermentable complex carbohydrates available, colonic flora produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).
Butyrate, an SCFA, is the principal source of nutrition for the colonocyte.
Mammalian cells do not produce butyrate, the colonic epithelium and luminal bacteria form an essential and elegant symbiotic relationship.
Antibiotics disrupt this cohabitation—decreased bacteria leads to less butyrate, which, in turn, negatively affects colonocyte function leading to diarrhea.
