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Microbiome

Christensenella minuta

Christensenella minuta is a strictly anaerobic bacterium of the family Christensenellaceae, identified in the TwinsUK cohort by Goodrich and colleagues in 2014 as the most heritable taxon in the human gut microbiome. Its abundance is inversely correlated with body mass index, and transplantation of a Christensenella-containing community into germ-free mice reduced weight gain and adiposity in that study. A clinical candidate strain (C. minuta DSM 33407, formulated as the drug product Xla1) originally developed by YSOPIA Bioscience (strain portfolio acquired by Verb Biotics in 2023) showed anti-obesity effects in diet-induced obesity mouse models. Human evidence remains limited to observational associations and early-stage trials, and Christensenella is positioned as a next-generation probiotic rather than an established therapy.

Sources

  1. Goodrich JK, Waters JL, Poole AC, et al.. (2014). Human genetics shape the gut microbiome. *Cell*doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.09.053
  2. Mazier W, Le Corf K, Martinez C, et al.. (2021). A new strain of Christensenella minuta as a potential biotherapy for obesity and associated metabolic diseases. *Cells*doi:10.3390/cells10040823
  3. Pan T, Zheng S, Zheng W, et al.. (2024). Christensenella minuta, a new candidate next-generation probiotic: current evidence and future trajectories. *Frontiers in Microbiology*doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1241259