In vitro impact of amino acid-derived bacterial metabolites on colonocyte mitochondrial activity, oxidative stress response and DNA integrity.

Background: 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (HO-PAA) is produced by intestinal microbiota from L-tyrosine. High concentrations in human fecal water have been associated with cytotoxicity, urging us to test HO-PAA's effects on human colonocytes. We compared these effects with those of phenylacetic acid (PAA), phenol and acetaldehyde, also issued from amino acids fermentation.