{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,6]],"date-time":"2026-11-06T06:00:43Z","timestamp":1793944843554,"version":"4.8.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778544000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The gut microbiota and its metabolite short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) regulate host physiology, but whether butyrate, a key SCFA, protects against myocardial injury via the gut\u2013heart axis remains unclear. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the cardioprotective effect of butyrate in a rat model of isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial injury and to explore its underlying gut\u2013heart mechanism. Methods: In this experimental study, male Sprague-Dawley rats received intragastric butyrate pre-treatment followed by ISO injection to induce myocardial injury. Cardiac function, myocardial remodeling, gut\u2013heart homeostasis, intestinal barrier integrity, and the expression of Tas2r, GPR41\/43, and NLRP3 pyroptosis pathway components were assessed. Results: Butyrate pre-treatment significantly restored cardiac function (LVEF increased by 19.67 units; 95% CI, 11.17\u201328.16; p &lt; 0.001) and ameliorated electrophysiological abnormalities (QTc shortened by 63.21 ms; 95% CI, 45.45\u201380.97; p &lt; 0.0001). Mechanistically, butyrate suppressed aberrant myocardial Tas2r signaling (Tas2r137 reduced by 1.06 units; 95% CI, 0.37\u20131.74; p &lt; 0.01), upregulated GPR41\/43, inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome activation (NLRP3 reduced by 1.23 units; 95% CI, 0.13\u20132.33; p &lt; 0.05), and repaired intestinal barrier integrity, thereby reducing bacterial translocation and secondary injury. Conclusions: Butyrate ameliorates ISO-induced myocardial injury through a simultaneous gut\u2013heart mechanism, acting on both the cardiac Tas2r137\/GPR41\/43-NLRP3 pathway and intestinal barrier protection. These findings identify butyrate as a key functional molecule in gut\u2013heart crosstalk and suggest its potential as a therapeutic agent for myocardial injury.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18101530","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T16:04:36Z","timestamp":1778601876000},"page":"1530","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Butyrate Ameliorates ISO-Induced Cardiac and Intestinal Injury in Rats via Modulation of Bitter Taste Receptors (Tas2rs) and GPR41\/43 to Inhibit NLRP3 Activation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-1120-7740","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tianxing","family":"Yu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Germplasm Innovation and Resource Utilization, School of Tea Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"},{"name":"International Joint Laboratory on Tea Chemistry and Health Effects of Ministry of Education, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anqi","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Germplasm Innovation and Resource Utilization, School of Tea Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"},{"name":"International Joint Laboratory on Tea Chemistry and Health Effects of Ministry of Education, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-0775-5210","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Feng","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Germplasm Innovation and Resource Utilization, School of Tea Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"},{"name":"International Joint Laboratory on Tea Chemistry and Health Effects of Ministry of Education, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3080-4881","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhongwen","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Germplasm Innovation and Resource Utilization, School of Tea Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"},{"name":"International Joint Laboratory on Tea Chemistry and Health Effects of Ministry of Education, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4776-1977","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shanshan","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Germplasm Innovation and Resource Utilization, School of Tea Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"},{"name":"International Joint Laboratory on Tea Chemistry and Health Effects of Ministry of Education, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3421-3816","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daxiang","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Germplasm Innovation and Resource Utilization, School of Tea Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"},{"name":"International Joint Laboratory on Tea Chemistry and Health Effects of Ministry of Education, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rivera, K., Gonzalez, L., Bravo, L., Manjarres, L., and Andia, M.E. 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