Enteric bacterial infection stimulates remodelling of bile metabolites to promote intestinal homeostasis

The liver makes bile, an aqueous solution critical for fat absorption, which is secreted into the duodenum. Despite extensive studies on bile salts, other components of bile are less well characterized. Here we used global metabolomic analysis on bile from specific-pathogen-free, germ-free, Citrobacter rodentium-infected or Listeria monocytogenes-infected mice and identified a metabolome of 812 metabolites that were altered by both microbiota and enteric infection. Hepatic transcriptomics identified enteric-infection-triggered pathways that probably underlie bile remodelling. Enteric infection increased levels of four dicarboxylates in bile, including itaconate. Analysis of Acod1^−/− mice indicated that increased itaconate also increased tuft cell abundance, altered microbiota composition and function as detected by metagenomic analysis, and modulated host defence, leading to reduced Vibrio cholerae colonization. Our data suggest that enteric-infection-associated signals are relayed between the intestine and liver and induce transcriptional programmes that shape the bile metabolome, modifying the immunomodulatory and host defence functions of bile.