The Gut Flora Matters - Perhaps More Than We Knew
Some startling evidence about the power of the gut just showed up in a couple of mouse studies.
The study found that that treating the guts of mice with antibiotics caused a decline in the effectiveness of an anti-cancer immunotherapy drug. Further research indicated that the anti-cancer agent itself had blown through the mouse gut demolishing some important flora. When researchers rebalanced the mice gut flora using fecal transplants the anti-cancer agent worked again (!).
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[/fright]Another study found altered rates of tumor growth in mice with distinctly different kinds of gut flora. Adding fecal transplants to the mice with the increased tumor growth rates significantly slowed the growth of the tumors. A gene expression analysis indicated that the fecal transplants had significantly increased the expression of several cancer fighting genes.The fecal transplants, interestingly, increased by 400x's the prevalence of bifidobacterium in the mouse's gut flow.
Bifidobacterium is a kind of bacteria found in kefir and some yogurts that aids in the digestion process by breaking down nutrients so they can be used by the body. One of those nutrients is lactose. Bifidobacterium's ability to break down lactose is one reason why most kefirs but not all yogurts can be tolerated by people with lactose intolerance. These bacteria also lowers the pH of the digestive tract, making it more difficult for harmful bacteria to colonize it.
These are mouse not human studies but the idea that our gut flora can effect how well some treatments work or the progression of cancer suggests that much more research is needed. A group of researchers called for a national initiative to understand the role microbial communities play.
National Gastroenterology Association Backs Call For National Movement to Understand Microbiome
Top researchers recently called for a United Microbiome Initiative to produce a strategic approach to understand the microbiomes role in our environment. Calling the microbiome the biological equivalent of dark matter in the universe they asserted it's now time to learn how the bacterial communities around and in us function and how, ultimately, we can manipulate them to our benefit.
Effective Manipulation of Gut Flora Believed Possible - If Funding Provided
Citing new advances in technology including the ability to rapidly assess genomes, and to understand the complex interactions occurring in microbiome communities, the group stated that if the work is begun now they believe in ten years they will be able to effectively manipulate microbiome communities. They envisioned an era
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[/fleft]That would be a huge step forward given that we're basically shooting in the dark right now. Since 2013 the NGA has
Several microbiome studies are underway in chronic fatigue syndrome right now. Given enough funding who knows what might happen...
Some startling evidence about the power of the gut just showed up in a couple of mouse studies.
The study found that that treating the guts of mice with antibiotics caused a decline in the effectiveness of an anti-cancer immunotherapy drug. Further research indicated that the anti-cancer agent itself had blown through the mouse gut demolishing some important flora. When researchers rebalanced the mice gut flora using fecal transplants the anti-cancer agent worked again (!).
[fright]
Bifidobacterium is a kind of bacteria found in kefir and some yogurts that aids in the digestion process by breaking down nutrients so they can be used by the body. One of those nutrients is lactose. Bifidobacterium's ability to break down lactose is one reason why most kefirs but not all yogurts can be tolerated by people with lactose intolerance. These bacteria also lowers the pH of the digestive tract, making it more difficult for harmful bacteria to colonize it.
These are mouse not human studies but the idea that our gut flora can effect how well some treatments work or the progression of cancer suggests that much more research is needed. A group of researchers called for a national initiative to understand the role microbial communities play.
National Gastroenterology Association Backs Call For National Movement to Understand Microbiome
Top researchers recently called for a United Microbiome Initiative to produce a strategic approach to understand the microbiomes role in our environment. Calling the microbiome the biological equivalent of dark matter in the universe they asserted it's now time to learn how the bacterial communities around and in us function and how, ultimately, we can manipulate them to our benefit.
Effective Manipulation of Gut Flora Believed Possible - If Funding Provided
Citing new advances in technology including the ability to rapidly assess genomes, and to understand the complex interactions occurring in microbiome communities, the group stated that if the work is begun now they believe in ten years they will be able to effectively manipulate microbiome communities. They envisioned an era
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- is comprehensively assessing 500 gut microbiota samples.
- working with Congress to address gut microbiome opportunities
- Is developing a national registry on fecal microbiota transplantation in collaboration with Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN)
Several microbiome studies are underway in chronic fatigue syndrome right now. Given enough funding who knows what might happen...
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