Overconsumption of low-digestible sugars can increase susceptibility to Salmonella Typhimurium infection.

Acute overconsumption of low-digestible sugars, including arabinose, lactulose, and polyols, compromises colonization resistance to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in infected mice, increasing fecal loads, systemic spread, and colitis.

• Why it matters: Although low-digestible carbohydrates are often viewed as beneficial, it was unclear whether short-term excess of specific low-digestible sugars could weaken gut defenses and simultaneously affect pathogen virulence.
• What they did: In mice, the study tested acute dietary overconsumption of low-digestible sugars and measured pathogen colonization, dissemination, and inflammation; arabinose was analyzed for fermentation-driven acidification, microbiota disruption, short-chain fatty acid shifts, and increased amino acid availability.
• The result: Arabinose overconsumption acidifies the gut, perturbs microbiota and metabolite profiles, and is linked to higher pathogen growth and broader tissue tropism (including expansion to the small intestine), selecting for invasive Salmonella that depends on SPI-1 and SPI-2.

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