Figure 1.

Role of the gut microbiome in epigenome and immune system regulation via the SCFA. SCFA production depends on gut microbiota composition and diet. SCFAs, mainly butyrate and acetate, reduces the inflammatory and increases the anti-inflammatory response of the adaptive immunity. Moreover, butyrate methylates promoter regions, affecting gene expression in enterocytes, macrophage and immune cells. A lack of SCFA can result in disruption of these processes, which can result in failure to recognize beta cells as non-foreign cells and therefore an autoimmune damage of pancreatic beta cells.