This article reviews the effects of the short-chain fatty acid butyrate on histone deacetylase
(HDAC) activity. Sodium butyrate has multiple effects on cultured mammalian cells that
include inhibition of proliferation, induction of differentiation and induction or repression of
gene expression. The observation that butyrate treatment of cells results in histone
hyperacetylation initiated a flurry of activity that led to the discovery that butyrate inhibits
HDAC activity. Butyrate has been an essential agent for determining the role of histone …