Seryl-butyrate: a prodrug that enhances butyrate’s oral bioavailability and suppresses autoimmune arthritis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Butyrate, a metabolite produced by commensal bacteria, has been intensively studied for its immunomodulatory effects on various immune cells, including T regulatory cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Butyrate’s development as a drug has been limited by its poor oral bioavailability due to its rapid metabolism in the gut, its low potency and thus high dosing, and its foul smell and taste. By simply esterifying butyrate to serine (SerBut), a design based on the concept of utilizing amino acid transporters to escape the gut and enhance systemic uptake thus increasing bioavailability, we developed an odorless and tasteless compound for oral administration. In the collagen antibody-induced arthritis (CAIA) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) murine models of rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, we demonstrated that SerBut significantly ameliorated disease severity, modulated key immune cell populations both systemically and in disease-associated tissues, and reduced inflammatory responses without compromising global immune response to vaccination. Our findings highlight SerBut as a promising next-generation therapeutic agent for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. ### Competing Interest Statement S.C., E.B., M.M.R., E.A.W. and J.A.H. are inventors on a patent filed by the University of Chicago on uses of SerBut.