Thirty days of supplementation with PQQ reprograms immunometabolic networks in Western diet-fed female baboons

Western-style diets promote chronic metabolic inflammation and dyslipidemia, yet safe interventions that restore immunometabolic homeostasis remain limited. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is a naturally occurring redox cofactor with antioxidant and metabolic regulatory properties, but its systemic effects in translational preclinical models are poorly defined. Here, we examined the impact of short-term PQQ supplementation in obese adult female olive baboons ( <i>Papio anubis</i> ) chronically fed a Western diet. Using a human-equivalent dose administered for 30 days, we found that PQQ supplementation significantly reduced circulating markers of systemic inflammation and cholesterol in Western-diet-fed animals, lowering circulating C-reactive protein, soluble CD163, and atherogenic lipoprotein fractions independent of changes in adiposity. Proteomic and pathway analyses of circulating proteins in plasma and serum revealed suppression of complement, thrombo-inflammatory, and extracellular matrix remodeling pathways, alongside enhanced lipoprotein assembly, remodeling, and clearance. Network analyses identified restoration of neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor 1 (NTRK1)- and forkhead box A2 (FOXA2)-regulated signaling as central features of the PQQ response, accompanied by inhibition of pro-fibrotic, xenobiotic, and inflammatory pathways, as well as predicted activation of liver X receptor (LXR)- and insulin growth factor (IGF)-associated metabolic programs. These findings demonstrate that PQQ rapidly reprograms systemic immunometabolic networks in a nonhuman primate model of diet-induced metabolic stress, highlighting FOXA2- and neurotrophin-associated pathways as novel targets of PQQ's action.

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Publication Details

Journal
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Published
2026-02-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.12.705540
Primary Topic
Microbial metabolism and enzyme function
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Thirty days of supplementation with PQQ reprograms immunometabolic networks in Western diet-fed female baboons

Taylor L Stevens, Dean A. Myers, Darlene Reuter, Amanda B Tresler et al.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Microbial metabolism and enzyme function
article

Thirty days of supplementation with PQQ reprograms immunometabolic networks in Western diet-fed female baboons

Taylor L Stevens, Dean A. Myers, Darlene Reuter, Amanda B Tresler, Sunam G Dockins, James F Papin, Kimberley E Hyatt
article en

Abstract

Western-style diets promote chronic metabolic inflammation and dyslipidemia, yet safe interventions that restore immunometabolic homeostasis remain limited. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is a naturally occurring redox cofactor with antioxidant and metabolic regulatory properties, but its systemic effects in translational preclinical models are poorly defined. Here, we examined the impact of short-term PQQ supplementation in obese adult female olive baboons ( <i>Papio anubis</i> ) chronically fed a Western diet. Using a human-equivalent dose administered for 30 days, we found that PQQ supplementation significantly reduced circulating markers of systemic inflammation and cholesterol in Western-diet-fed animals, lowering circulating C-reactive protein, soluble CD163, and atherogenic lipoprotein fractions independent of changes in adiposity. Proteomic and pathway analyses of circulating proteins in plasma and serum revealed suppression of complement, thrombo-inflammatory, and extracellular matrix remodeling pathways, alongside enhanced lipoprotein assembly, remodeling, and clearance. Network analyses identified restoration of neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor 1 (NTRK1)- and forkhead box A2 (FOXA2)-regulated signaling as central features of the PQQ response, accompanied by inhibition of pro-fibrotic, xenobiotic, and inflammatory pathways, as well as predicted activation of liver X receptor (LXR)- and insulin growth factor (IGF)-associated metabolic programs. These findings demonstrate that PQQ rapidly reprograms systemic immunometabolic networks in a nonhuman primate model of diet-induced metabolic stress, highlighting FOXA2- and neurotrophin-associated pathways as novel targets of PQQ's action.

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (US)
Presbyterian Health Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Openalex Percentile: Top 56%
Microbial metabolism and enzyme function
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