Eggerthella lenta: metabolism, pathogenesis and therapeutic implications.

Eggerthella lenta is a major gut microbiota member with extensive biotransformation capacity and is associated with chronic human diseases, with disease exacerbation in preclinical models.

• Why it matters: Its role in the human gut is poorly understood, despite extensive environmental Actinomycetota literature, and its pathogenic potential needs clearer mechanistic grounding.
• What they did: This Review synthesizes Eggerthella lenta biology, emphasizing its asaccharolytic obligate anaerobe metabolism, amino-acid and short-chain fatty-acid growth, anaerobic respiratory capacity, and small-molecule biotransformation.
• The result: The evidence links Eggerthella lenta to chronic diseases in humans and shows it can exacerbate disease in preclinical models, motivating microbiome-editing tools for mechanistic dissection.

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