Biology & Ecology
Biology
Gram Statusgram-negative
Oxygen Tolerancemicroaerophile
Morphologybacillus (rod)
Ecology
Primary Nichesgut
Reservoiranimal
Clinical Profile
Pathobiont
yes
no
context dependent
unknown
Clinical Rolesopportunistic pathogen
Risk Contextsimmunocompromised patients; inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Clinical Associations:
E1
E3 — Strong human clinical evidence
E2 — Moderate human evidence
E1 — Limited / preliminary
H. hepaticus colonization drives colitogenic TH17 cell expansion and histopathologically confirmed colitis in mice with impaired immune tolerance (IL-10-deficient or c-Maf-deficient Treg compartment), with H. hepaticus-specific T effector transcriptomes matching disease-associated inflammatory signatures similar to those in IL-10RA blockade-induced colitis.
PMID:
29414937
E1
E3 — Strong human clinical evidence
E2 — Moderate human evidence
E1 — Limited / preliminary
In immunocompetent hosts, H. hepaticus colonization induces c-Maf-dependent RORγt+Foxp3+ induced regulatory T cells (iTreg) in the large intestinal lamina propria that selectively restrain pathobiont-specific TH17 cells; disruption of this iTreg-TH17 homeostasis by c-Maf deficiency leads to spontaneous colitis even without H. hepaticus colonization in aged mice.
PMID:
29414937
Last reviewed: 2026-04-03
Evidence Timeline
Related Taxa
Shared Niche = same body site
Shared Risk = same vulnerable population
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