The Cho lab examines determinants of metabolic health with a focus on one-carbon metabolism, gut microbiota and genetic variations using rodent models and human studies.
Interindividual sources of metabolic heterogeneity: We showed that individual differences in gut microbiota and genetics shape metabolic pathways including trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) and one-carbon metabolites in response to methyl nutrients.
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Tang J, Boudreau AD, Bryan JA, Richards G, Shikuma NJ, Beyhan S, Farooq A, Bakovic M, Monk JM, Cho CE. Bacterial dynamics govern growth trajectories and choline-derived trimethylamine production. J Nutr Biochem. Accepted. Apr 2026.
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Butt N, Dong J, Shelp GV, Poole EM, Keathley JR, Bakovic M, Cho CE. Common genetic polymorphisms define one-carbon metabolite responses to different forms of choline in healthy adult males. Front Nutr 2025;12:1620538. [top 30 out of 250+ abstracts selected for a flash talk presentation at the Canadian Nutrition Society Annual Conference, 2025]
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Gut microbiota as a predictor of host phenotypes: We found that the gut microbiota composition shaped by choline and its oxidized form betaine in early life can predict key metabolic hormones including glucagon-like peptide-1 in a rodent model of human obesity. Conversely, disruptions in gut microbiota and gut-derived metabolites associated with excess or imbalanced prenatal micronutrients may modulate behavioural phenotypes.
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Poole EM*, Al-Issa M*, Dong J, Shelp GV, Burns SE, Monk JM, Dyck DJ, Cho CE. Distinct gut microbiota signatures characterize glucoregulatory effects of prenatal choline and betaine in Wistar rat offspring. J Nutr 2026;31;101389. *Shared first-authors
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Dong J, Al-Issa M, Feeney JS, Shelp GV, Poole EM, Cho CE. Prenatal intake of high multivitamins or folic acid with or without choline contributes to gut microbiota-associated dysregulation of serotonin in offspring. Mol Nutr Food Res 2025; 69:e70044.
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Metabolic signatures of dietary exposure: We identified broad metabolic shifts one-carbon metabolites with varying composition of methyl nutrients that linked methyl donor availability, TMAO and epigenetic regulation.
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Shelp GV, Dong J, Orlov NO, Malysheva OV, Bender E, Shoveller AK, Bakovic M, Cho CE. Exposure to prenatal excess or imbalanced micronutrients leads to long-term perturbations in one-carbon metabolism, trimethylamine-N-oxide and DNA methylation in Wistar rat offspring. FASEB J 2024;38:e70032. [Selected for a cover image; generated a press release]
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Dong J, Shelp GV, Poole EM, Cook WJJ, Michaud J, Cho CE. Prenatal choline supplementation enhances metabolic outcomes with differential impact on DNA methylation in Wistar rat offspring and dams. J Nutr Biochem 2025;136:109806. [Featured by the journal; won a Diabetes Research award at the Canadian Nutrition Society Annual Conference, 2024]