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Yeast May Help Fight Infection ~ May 2004 No.182 ~ There is a growing concern

in the health sector that we are using too many antibiotics. The concern is a

rise in infections and diarrhea caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Infection by Clostridium difficile, a bacteria that can survive as spores for

many months, has become the most common cause of infectious diarrhea in

hospitalized patients. In many hospitals it has become a major problem, as

people develop serious infections while staying in hospitals for other health

problems. Hands of staff, as well as a various sites within institutions have

been found to be contaminated with Clostridium difficile. Contaminated toilets,

bathing tubs, and electronic thermometers have been implicated as sources of

Clostridium difficile. A recent report in a Canadian medical journal reported

that 89 deaths in hospitals in two Canadian cities could be attributed to

infections by Clostridium difficile. A second report indicated that

one hospital in Quebec may have had 100 patients die due to the same bacterial

infection in the last 18 months. There is a growing concern in the health

sector that we are using too many antibiotics.

The advent of antibiotics saw a major reduction in many infectious diseases.

However, over time bacteria, particularly pathogenic (harmful) bacteria, are

able to mutate and find ways to overcome the lethal effects of antibiotics. The

solution to this has been to use more , and different antibiotics. Antibiotics

do kill harmful bacteria, but they also kill helpful bacteria at the same time.

The term probiotics was coined to describe microorganisms (bacteria and yeasts)

which are beneficial to health and disease resistance. It is believed, that by

consuming probiotic bacteria and yeasts, a proper balance on the population of

microflora that inhabit our gastrointestinal systems can be achieved, leading to

good health. How exactly probiotic yeasts and bacteria work in the body is still

not clear. There is experimental data (in animals) to show that probiotic

bacteria can stimulate our immune system and this could in turn result in

improved disease resistance. It is also known

that some microorganisms, as a defense mechanism, produce metabolites called

bacteriocins that are toxic to other microorganisms. A third possibility is

more. It may be that probiotic bacteria are able to stick to the walls of the

intestine and prevent pathogenic bacteria from finding a niche where they can

grow and produce their toxic effects. Consuming probiotics may be a new and

better way to fight pathogenic bacteria.

 

A small number of studies have been published which show the yeast

Saccharomyces boulardii, when consumed in high numbers, reduce the recurrence of

Clostridium difficile disease (CDD), also known as antibiotic associated

diarrhea (AAD). It is still not known how the yeast is able to kill the

pathogenic bacteria or reduce its toxic effects, but large doses (1 gram per day

containing 1010-1012 yeasts) are required to produce an effect. Since no foods

contain this large number of yeasts, the patients were given capsules each day.

It may well be that in the future, doctors will advise their patients to start

taking Saccharomyces boulardiias a week or two before going into the hospital -

a more natural way to combat disease and infection

 

Reference

McFarland LV, Surawicz CM, Greenberg RN, Fekety R, Elmer GW, Moyer KA,

Melcher SA, Bowen KE, Cox JL, Noorani Z, et al.A randomized placebo-controlled

trial of Saccharomyces boulardii in combination with standard antibiotics for

Clostridium difficile disease. JAMA. 1994 Jun 22-29;271(24):1913-81

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile): Questions and Answers2

Other articles on probiotics §

http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol08/issue2/yeast

 

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Probiotics - Bacteria that are Good for Your Health ~ February 1997 No.2 ~

Microbiologists have studied the large number of bacteria in the intestine of

humans for some time. Their first task was to count and identify the many

different bacteria. This has proven to be such a big job that it is still going

on. As various bacteria were identified, people started asking what these

bacteria were doing in the intestine. It soon became evident that the bacteria

residing in the intestines could be affected by their host and vice versa.

Quickly the findings of the microbiologists started to interest others concerned

about nutrition, metabolism, health.

 

It was British scientist, Roy Fuller who first popularized the definition of a

probiotic. Fuller credits another scientists D. Lilly and R. Stillwell for

actually coining the word. According to Fuller a probiotic is ‘a live microbial

feed supplement which beneficially affects the host animal by improving its

intestinal microbial balance’.

 

Fuller’s definition applied to his work with animals, but it was quickly

modified and extended to include humans. The number of foods that are considered

to be probiotics is not large but probiotic foods are probably more familiar to

the consumer in terms of being good for your health. yogurt, kefir, and koumis

are fermented milk products that have long histories. All three are considered

probiotics. There are other, less well known, probiotics on the market now. Food

manufacturers are researching other products that contain bacteria that could

soon be on the market as probiotics.

 

An even faster growing trend is the sale of foods that are prebiotics.

Prebiotics are foods that contain nutrients that are required by bacteria for

growth and metabolism. The bacteria that live in the intestines of humans

survive on the supply of partially digested food that is passing down the

gastrointestinal tract. Certain bacteria require specific nutrients to grow. If

the diet of the human contains those nutrients the bacteria will survive and

grow; if the nutrients are not in the diet, the bacteria cannot grow. Adding or

increasing specific foods or food ingredients to the diet, changes the numbers

and types of bacteria in the intestines.

The largest group of prebiotics on the market right now are oligosaccharides.

These complex sugars are required by certain intestinal bacteria. By including

oligosaccharides in the diet, the growth of specific bacteria populations can be

altered.

Comments 1 KTKC99 - Wed, 15 Aug 2001 21:55:10 I was just wondering, I take

a probiotic supplement but it does not contain any FOS or prebiotics. what kinds

of foods could i include in my diet that would help my friendly bacteria to grow

better, without using an actual supplement?

 

2 Mike - Thur, 16 Aug 2001 15:51:09 You can create a healthy bacterial

balance (or flora) within your gut by eating lots of prebiotic foods, including

nearly all fruits and vegetables, but especially artichokes, onions, leeks,

oats, salsify, chicory, wheat, wholemeal bread, porridge and bananas

 

http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol01/issue1/pro011

 

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Bifido Bacteria – The Friendly Bacteria ~ by The Editor - June 1997 No.10 ~

The principle behind any probiotic product is that the food contains live

bacteria, and that when the food is consumed the bacteria pass down the

digestive tract and reside long enough in the intestines to provide some

beneficial effect to the consumer. The critical question is always “which

bacteria should be used in a href= " /dictnary/probioti.htm " rel= " help " >probiotic

preparations”.

 

There are thousands of different bacteria, many with strange sounding names.

Those who eat yogurt are probably most familiar with Lactobacillus bulgaricus

and Streptococcus thermophilus. It is these two bacteria that are used primarily

to change milk to yogurt, and so when you eat yogurt you are also eating at the

same time large numbers of live L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus. How many

bacteria is a large number? A good yogurt will contain 107 or more of each

bacteria per gram. That‘s 10 million!

 

But bifido bacteria are quickly gaining a reputation around the world as a

bacteria that is beneficial to health. In fact, many refer to bifido bacteria as

the “friendly bacteria”, because of the growing evidence that points to bifido

bacteria as being good for health. Some yogurts now contain bifido bacteria in

addition to Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus.

 

Bifido bacteria are found in highest quantities in the intestines of breast

fed newborns. As the baby ages and its diet changes, the numbers of Bifido

bacteria declines and other bacteria, some associated with disease, increase in

numbers. In studies carried out in primarily in Japan, it was shown that adding

Bifido bacteria back into the diet improved diarrhea, and constipation. Various

strains of Bifido bacteria have been shown to be able to synthesize vitamins

that may be available to the host. There have also been reports of the infection

preventing ability of Bifido bacteria and their antitumor effect,

How these bacteria exert their beneficial effects is not well understood. The

bacteria use the food passing down through the intestine to live, grow and

reproduce. It may be that some substances produced by the bacteria lower the

acidity or pH of the intestinal contents. The bacteria also produce volatile

fatty acids or VFA’s. Several VFA’s have been shown to inhibit the growth of

certain cancer cells. A third possibility is that the bacteria contain or

produce enzymes that detoxify potential carcinogens as they pass through the

intestine.

 

Table 1 BIFIDO FACTS Common Strains: B. breve, B. infantis, B.

longum, B. adolescentis Location of B. Bacteria in the Body : large

intestine Sugars used by Bifido Bacteria: short chain

fructooligosaccharides, lactulose, lactitol Foods Containing Bifido Bacteria

: some yogurts

 

 

Other articles on bifido bacteria §

 

http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol01/issue3/bifido

 

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Synbiotics for Good Gut Health ~ May 2006 No.205 ~ First it was probiotics.

Then it was prebiotics. Now the two are being combined to produce synbiotics.

The principal behind probiotics is that our gastrointestinal system is populated

by a large number and variety of different bacteria. In very general terms, some

of the bacteria contribute to our good health, but others are responsible for

disease and infections. By consuming foods that contain probiotic bacteria, it

is believed that the population of beneficial bacteria can be increased –

perhaps only temporarily – and good metabolism, and heath will be achieved.

However, finding bacteria that have probiotic properties has not been easy. In

addition, since the probiotic bacteria that are consumed do not normally reside

in the digestive system, they are soon washed out of the intestines if

consumption of the probiotic product is stopped.

 

 

CRC press1

 

The concept of prebiotics was developed to overcome the technical problems

associated with probiotics. Bacteria that live in our GI tract, survive and grow

using the partially digested food that passes down from the small intestine to

the large intestine. Detailed research has shown that some bacteria (bifido

bacteria in particular) have very specific nutrient needs, and therefore by

selecting specific foods or food ingredients, it is possible to increase the

numbers of target bacteria. This has the advantage that no external bacteria are

being given, but rather the numbers of resident bacteria are increased. During

the period of consumption of the prebiotic, the numbers of specific bacteria

have been shown to increase by up to 100 fold, but similar to the situation with

probiotics, when the consumption of the prebiotic stops, the gut bacteria

numbers quickly return to their original values.

 

Some products, called synbiotics, are now being sold that contain both

probiotic bacteria and prebiotic sugars. Such products take advantage of both

the addition of beneficial bacteria and the encouragement of the growth of

resident beneficial bacteria. Fructo-oligosaccharides are the most common

prebiotic sugar used in such products to-day but, in the future, other sugars

will be used to target other bacteria besides bifidobacteria.

 

Definition of Probiotic Bacteria

Live microorganisms when administered in adequate amounts that confer a

health benefit on the host. Note that foods that contain probiotic bacteria are

also often referred to as probiotics (e.g. yogurt).

 

Definition of Prebiotic

A nondigestible food ingredient that beneficially affects the host by

selectively stimulating the growth and / or activity of a limited number of

bacteria in the colon.

 

Examples of Prebiotic Sugars

Fructo-oligosaccharides (inulin, FOS etc)

Soy oligosaccharides

Galacto-oligoaccharides

Lactulose

Raffinose

 

Reference

Farnworth ER. (2001) Probiotics and prebiotics2 In Handbook of Nutraceuticals

and Functional Foods, CRC Press, pp. 407-422.

http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol10/2006/synbiotics

 

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100 Trillion Bacteria in Your Gut: Learn How to Keep the Good Kind

There By Dr. Joseph Mercola

with Rachael Droege

You probably don't think about your gut very often but this may make you

start--the bacteria in your bowels outnumber the cells in your body by a factor

of 10 to one. This gut flora has incredible power over your immune system,

which, of course, is your body's natural defense system that keeps you healthy.

In other words, the health of your body is largely tied into the health of your

gut, and it's hard to have one be healthy if the other is not.

 

One of the reasons why your gut has so much power has to do with the 100

trillion bacteria--about three pounds worth--that line your intestinal tract.

This is an extremely complex living system that aggressively protects your body

from outside offenders.

 

However, if you are eating as many sugars as the typical American (about 175

pounds per year) then you are feeding the " bad " bacteria, which are more likely

to cause disease than promote health, rather than promoting the " good " bacteria

that help protect you from disease. Exposure to chemicals will also contribute

to this disruption in your gut microflora, and over time the imbalance will lead

to illness.

 

A large part of the influence of the " bad " bacteria is on the intestinal

lining (mucousal barrier) that is over 300 square meters, or about the size of a

tennis court.

 

Beneficial bacteria in your gut can help to boost the immune system, prevent

allergic inflammation and food allergy, clear up eczema in children and heal the

intestines from a variety of ailments.

 

Fortunately, you can influence the composition of the good and bad bacteria in

your gut by optimizing your diet and supplementing it with a high-quality

probiotic, or good bacteria. As written in a report in the October 2003 American

Journal of Clinical Nutrition, " probiotics can act as partners of the defense

system of the intestine. "

 

The typical American diet is so full of sugar and grains that--although I

don’t often recommend supplements--nearly everyone can benefit from probiotics.

You should look for a high potency, multi-strain variety, which can be found in

most health food stores. Since the best type of probiotic to use can become

highly specific, you may want to discuss the varieties with an experienced

health food store employee.

 

I recommend probiotics to nearly all of our new patients, as it is a helpful

start for their health recovery. This is not a lifetime recommendation, however.

Once you are eating the right foods it is generally possible to maintain a

healthy bacterial balance in your gut without the use of probiotics.

 

On a side note, probiotics are especially helpful when you are traveling in

the event you get an infectious diarrhea. Typically, large doses of a

high-quality probiotic--about one-half to one full bottle in one day--are quite

useful for a rapid resolution of the diarrhea.

 

 

Related Articles: Beneficial Bacteria (Probiotics) May Halt Allergies In

Babies

Beneficial Bacteria Helps Heal Intestines

One Third of Probiotics, " Good Bacteria " Products Like Acidophilus, Found to

be Worthless

Beneficial Bacteria (Probiotics) During Pregnancy & Breastfeeding Helps

Protect Against Eczema

'Good' Bacteria Help Kids with Diarrhea

Good Bacteria Fights the Flu

 

http://www.mercola.com/2003/oct/18/bacteria_gut.htm

 

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Source: Washington University School Of Medicine

November 6, 2002 More on: Bacteria, Microbiology, Mice, Microbes and More,

Extreme Survival, Gastrointestinal Problems

 

Teamwork In The Intestine: Gut Bacteria Interact With Intestine To Regulate

Blood Supply Science Daily — St. Louis, Nov. 4, 2002 -- Bacteria aren't always

bad. In fact, they can be extremely helpful partners. According to research at

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, microbes found naturally

in the mouse and human gut interact with intestinal cells, called Paneth cells,

to promote the development of blood vessels in the intestinal lining.

 

" This study provides insights into the mutually beneficial partnerships forged

between mammals and their native microbes, " says principal investigator Jeffrey

I. Gordon, M.D., the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and

head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology. " These symbiotic

relationships probably are most important in the gut, which contains the largest

and most complex collection of bacteria. "

 

Gordon's team found that a key developmental program orchestrating formation

of blood vessels in the gut following birth is a responsibility shared by

intestinal bacteria and their host. The study appears in the November 5 issue of

the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; Thaddeus S. Stappenbeck,

M.D., Ph.D., instructor of molecular biology and pharmacology, is first author

and Lora Hooper, Ph.D., instructor of molecular biology and pharmacology, is

co-author.

 

The team examined three groups of six-week-old male mice. One group of animals

was reared with normal bacteria; another group was reared without any intestinal

bacteria; a third group began bacteria-free but then were colonized with

microbes taken from intestines of normal mice.

An imaging technique called confocal microscopy provided three-dimensional

images of sections of intestinal tissue taken from each group of animals. The

images offer a clear view of cells and blood vessels in tissue samples, and

allow investigators to measure the density of capillaries, small blood vessels

in the wall of the intestine.

 

In mice lacking intestinal bacteria, blood vessel formation stopped early

during postnatal development. Remarkably, this developmental program restarted

and was completed just 10 days after implanting microbes into bacteria-free

mice.

 

Moreover, colonization by one particular type of bacteria commonly found in

normal mouse and human intestine, called Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, or B.

thetaiotaomicron, stimulated blood vessel development as efficiently as

implantation of a whole microbial society.

 

The researchers also examined the pathway by which bacteria influence blood

vessel formation. They engineered mice lacking Paneth cells, normal components

of the intestinal lining that help defend the body against attacks by harmful

bacteria. Without Paneth cells, blood vessels could not completely develop, even

when microbes such as B. thetaiotaomicron were introduced. The team concluded

that B. thetaiotaomicron and Paneth cells work together to stimulate postnatal

blood vessel formation.

 

" Our findings illustrate the importance of co-evolution of animals and their

microbial partners, " says Gordon. " Bacteria that live in the intestine appear to

provide mammals with several necessary services for healthy development.

Unraveling the molecular foundations of these relationships may provide new ways

of preventing or treating a variety of diseases. "

 

 

###

 

Reference:

 

Stappenbeck TS, Hooper LV, Gordon JI. Developmental regulation of intestinal

angiogenesis by indigenous microbes via Paneth cells. Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences, November 5, 2002.

Funding from the National Institutes of Health, AstraZeneca and the

Burroughs-Wellcome Foundation supported this research.

 

The full-time and volunteer faculty of Washington University School of

Medicine are the physicians and surgeons of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis

Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical

research, teaching and patient-care institutions in the nation. Through its

affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School

of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

 

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Washington

University School Of Medicine.

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021106075408.htm

 

Related Science Stories

Search And Destroy: Newly Identified Gut Protein Kills Bacteria

Friendly Microbes Control Intestinal Genes, Study Finds

Researchers Identify Molecular Basis Of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Researchers Identify Antibiotic Protein That Defends The Intestine Against

Microbial Invaders

Gaps In Intestinal Barrier Could Cause Crohn's Disease

 

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Source: Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University

June 20, 2007 More on: Bacteria, Microbes and More, Extreme Survival,

Microbiology, Infectious Diseases, Dentistry

 

Resistant Gut Bacteria Will Not Go Away By Themselves Science Daily — E. coli

bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics will probably still be

around even if we stop using antibiotics, as these strains have the same good

chance as other bacteria of continuing to colonise the gut, according to a

thesis at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

 

E. coli bacteria are found naturally in large quantities in our intestines.

These bacteria do not normally cause disease, but there are several strains that

can result in diarrhoea. In serious cases, they can also cause peritonitis and

septicaemia.

 

The faeces of 128 Swedish infants were analysed in the studies underlying the

thesis. The results show that 21% of E. coli strains in these infants’ gut flora

were resistant to at least one type of antibiotic. Even children who had never

been given antibiotics had resistant bacterial strains in their intestines.

“This is a growing problem, and it’s serious even when ordinary harmless

bacteria develop resistance, as these genes can be transferred to more harmful

bacteria,” says microbiologist Nahid Karami.

 

Many had thought that resistant bacteria would disappear if the use of

antibiotics were to be reduced, but the thesis shows that E. coli strains

carrying resistance genes are just as good at colonising the gut for long

periods as sensitive strains.

 

”Our research suggests that there’s little cost to the bacteria from carrying

a resistance gene, and this presumably means that this resistance will be

retained for a long time by the bacteria in our gut flora even if we stop using

antibiotics,” says Karami.

 

Bacteria have a natural ability to absorb and transfer resistance genes to

other bacteria. The study discovered two cases of such transfers between E. coli

strains found simultaneously in a child’s intestines. The first was in an infant

who was treated with penicillin, and the second in an infant who was not treated

with antibiotics.

 

“Our results suggest that the transfer of resistance genes in the gut flora

may be very common, which makes the resistance issue much more serious, as genes

can easily be transferred from bacteria in the normal flora to more harmful

bacteria,” says Karami.

 

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Sahlgrenska

Academy at Göteborg University.

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070619165543.htm

 

Related Science Stories

Permanent Resistance To Antibiotics Cannot Be Prevented, According To Dutch

Research

Over-use Of Antibiotics In Fish-for-food Industry Encourages Bacterial

Resistance And Disease

Insect Antibiotics -- Resistance Is Futile! Cecropin A Bypasses Outer

Defenses To Kill Bacteria From The Inside

Treating Acne With Antibiotics Leads To Resistance

Report Examines Use Of Antibiotics In Agriculture

------------

 

Study: Gut Bacteria Determine Fat or Thin Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

 

 

June 19, 2006 — A microbe that converts waste into methane for daily

flatulence could make the difference between fat people and thin people,

according to a new study that looks into the menagerie of microorganisms living

in our colon.

 

Called Methanobrevibacter smithii (M. smithii), the bacterium is key to how

well we process calories, reports Jeffrey Gordon, director of the Center for

Genome Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis,

Missouri, and and his graduate student Buck Samuel.

 

The bacteria are essentially the body’s waste-removal workhorses. They mop up

hydrogen and byproducts released by the gut bacteria, helping them digest

complex sugars.

 

In this way, the stored calories are liberated and absorbed.

 

" We are superorganisms containing a mixture of not just human cells but also

bacterial cells and cells of another microscopic domain of life known as

archaea, " Gordon said in a statement.

 

" The genes present in this community of 10-100 trillion bugs vastly outnumber

our own genes and are a key part of our genetic landscape, providing us with

attributes we have not had to evolve on our own. "

 

One such attribute is the ability to break down non-digestible complex

carbohydrates known as polysaccharides.

 

Gut bacteria such as Bacteroides thetaiotaomicronchop these complex sugars

into short-chain fatty acids that account for up to 10 percent of a person's

daily calorie intake.

 

Gordon and Samuel tested whether M. smithii, which was recently recognized as

the most common archaeon in human intestines, could speed up digestion within a

group of germ-free mice.

 

The researchers colonized one group of these mice with the

polysaccharide-digesting bacterium B. thetaiotaomicron. Another group was

colonized with M. smithii, while a third group received both B. thetaiotaomicron

and M. smithii.

 

Mice from a control group were colonized with the sulfate-reducing bacterium

Desulfovibrio piger, which is the most abundant species in healthy adults.

All the mice then received the same amount of food – a standard rodent chow

rich in plant polysaccharides. Mice colonized with both B. thetaiotaomicron and

M. smithii had significantly more fat than animals colonized with either microbe

alone or with the other bacteria.

 

The researchers concluded that M. smithii collaborate with B. thetaiotaomicron

to increase calorie intake from food.

 

" M. smithii acts as a ‘power broker’ in the distal gut community, " they wrote

in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where the study was

published..

 

Indeed, without M. smithii’s activity and synergy with B. thetaiotaomicron,

accumulation of byproducts would slow sugar digestion, basically inhibiting the

absorption of calories.

 

The finding would explain why different people gain different amounts of

calories from identical foods.

 

" Further studies are needed to understand how to manipulate the representation

of M. smithii and or other archaeons in our gut microbiota: the results could

lead to a novel means for preventing obesity in the overfed or increasing

caloric harvest in the underfed, " wrote the researchers.

 

According to microbiologist Martin Blaser of New York University, the study is

very important.

 

" It begins to describe the complex interactions between the microbes adapted

to the intestinal tract and the metabolism of the host animal, " Blaser told

Discovery News. " Although the study was done in mice, it is a model system for

human biology. "

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/06/19/gutbacteria_hea.html?category=health & gu\

id=20060619092011

 

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How gut bacteria escape detection

 

Bacteria living in the human intestine escape detection by the immune system

by disguising themselves as gut cells, researchers say.

 

A US team examined bacteria from the genus Bacteroides - the most commonly

found bacteria in the human gut. They found the bacteria wrap themselves in

a sugar substance derived from molecules taken from the surface of cells in the

gut. Details of the Harvard Medical School research are in the journal

Science.

 

It is extremely important that the resident bacteria in our

intestine do not generate a deleterious immune response

Dr Laurie Comstock

 

 

This form of molecular mimicry may help to explain how humans tolerate the

presence of billions of bacteria in the gut without launching an immune system

attack.

 

The Harvard team found that Bacteroides bacteria coat themselves with a form

of fucose, a molecule which is abundant on the surface of intestinal epithelial

cells. Previous research has shown that Bacteroides can stimulate

intestinal epithelial cells to produce molecules such as fucose. It now

seems that the bacteria are then able to incorporate this molecule in a slightly

modified form directly into their own cells. Digestive role

Bacteroides play a crucial role in the digestive process, helping to break down

food products and supplying some vitamins and other nutrients that we cannot

make ourselves. Researcher Dr Laurie Comstock told the BBC News website:

" Compared to the wealth of knowledge regarding mechanisms used by bacterial

pathogens to cause disease, relatively little is known about how the trillions

of bacteria in the mammalian intestine establish and maintain beneficial

relationships with the host. " It is extremely important that

the resident bacteria in our intestine do not generate a deleterious immune

response. " Bacteroides are able to degrade a great variety of plant

polysaccharides so that the host is able to use them for energy. " Many of

these plant polysaccharides could not be used by the host without the aid of the

bacteria. " Dr Alastair Forbes, a consultant gastroenterologist at St Mark's

Hospital, London, said the findings were interesting. He said it was

possible they could be used in the long-term to develop new forms of probiotic

treatment for gastrointestinal disorders. Probiotics, preparations

containing beneficial bacteria, have already been used to treat conditions such

as ulcerative colitis and pouchitis. " The use of probiotics has had some

success, but their use is made difficult by the fact that the bugs tend not to

persist in the gut, and treatments have to be given week after week, " Dr Forbes

said. " If there was some way of modifying bacteria

so they could continue to infect the gut, but remain safe, that would be

useful. " Dr Forbes said scientists were also working on prebiotic

treatments, which provide nutrients to encourage the growth of certain bacteria.

However, he said knowledge about the bacteria which live in the gut was still

relatively limited. It is estimated that only about 20-30% of the bacteria

that inhibit the gut have been identified.

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/4358285.stm

 

Published: 2005/03/21 00:30:35 GMT

 

© BBC MMVII

 

Should we top up our friendly bacteria?

01 Nov 04 | Health

Gut teems with different viruses

20 Oct 03 | Health

 

 

---------------

 

Gut bacteria may provide insight into weight loss Laura Geggel Issue date:

12/9/05 Section: News

 

When a grocery shopper glances at the nutritional information on a box of

Cheerios, the number of calories is 110 calories for a serving size of one cup.

But depending on the type of bacteria living in the shopper's gut, the full 110

calories may not be fully absorbed. The number of calories denotes " the absolute

amount of energy in that serving, and shoppers with different [types] of

bacteria in their gut may harvest and store different amounts of energy from

that same serving, " said Jeffrey Gordon, the director of the Center for Genome

Sciences at the School of Medicine, and the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished

University Professor.

 

Over 800 species of microbes live in the human gut. Consequently, research on

bacteria may be able to offer insights about how energy and weight are stored in

the human body. Gut bacteria also may be the key to drug therapies that could

treat a variety of digestive or weight loss processes.

 

Gordon, along with Ruth Ley, an instructor in molecular biology and

pharmacology, recently received approval from the National Institutes of Health

to sequence 100 microbial genomes.

 

" We think of this as the next logical step in the human genome project because

the micro-biome is an integral part of our genetic landscape, " said Gordon. " We

can begin to understand the different types of properties these organisms bring

to us. "

 

" Most people think of bacteria as being adversaries, pathogens, [but] we think

that most of our encounters with microbes are friendly and mutually beneficial, "

he continued.

 

Although the microbes that reside in human guts are foreign entities, often

introduced at the time of birth, from mothers and from the environment, they are

essential to digestion and fat storage.

 

" We've done experiments in [bacteria] free mice that show that when you add

bacteria in a very short period of time, the mice acquire a market increase of

60 percent in the amount of fat cells, " Gordon said.

 

He added that, " The way that works is that the microbes help break down these

indigestible components of the diet and liberate the calories, but they also

help the host by allowing the energy that is liberated to be stored in fat

cells. They do so by manipulating a series of genes in the host. "

 

" You can think of this symbiosis in a very elegant way, in that microbes not

only help break down components of the diet and liberate calories that would

otherwise be lost, but also to ensure that those calories are stored, " said

Gordon.

 

Gut bacteria, for instance, can break down polysaccharides, a carbohydrate found

in plants that are integrated into everything from bread to pasta.

 

Gut bacteria, also believed to influence metabolism, may eventually allow

scientists to form drugs specific to people with certain species of bacteria

living in their gut.

 

" Armed with that knowledge of what the metabolic potential of these microbes

are, I think that we will begin to see clinical trials within the next five

years. For example, the nature of nutritional advice is predicated on the

knowledge of what the microbes in an individual's gut can do, so [individuals

could have] more of a personalized nutrition of what they should consume, " said

Gordon.

 

The microbes, which interact with genes in the storage of fat, could potentially

help overweight individuals drop pounds.

 

" This gene product, which actually operates to limit the amount of fat stored,

could become more of a potential therapeutic agent, " he said.

 

Despite the crucial role gut bacteria play in digestion and energy storage, the

microbes' genomes have only recently been addressed within the scientific

community. While the first comprehensive description of microbes in the human

gut was published in June 2005, Gordon explained that the study only included

three adult humans.

 

" There was quite a large differences in types of bacteria present, " he said. " We

don't know if the membership to the community vary or operate differently. It

may be that there's a lot of redundancy among the types of bacteria even though

they're called different organisms, they may perform similar functions. "

 

Gordon and Ley hope to sequence gut bacteria first in mice and then compare and

contrast microbes in people living in different regions of the planet, " both to

understand how humans vary in respect to one another and how environment

influences differences in genes, " said Gordon.

 

http://media.www.studlife.com/media/storage/paper337/news/2005/12/09/News/Gut-Ba\

cteria.May.Provide.Insight.Into.Weight.Loss-1126368.shtml

 

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Hospital Stress Turns Friendly Gut Bacteria Nasty, Killing 40% Of

PatientsMain Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroentorology News

Article 10 Mar 2007 - 0:00 PDT

 

Researchers have discovered that our friendly gut bacteria, vital partners in

fermenting and processing our everyday food, turn on us in times of stress such

as major surgery, cancer chemotherapy or bowel disease and seize the opportunity

to create havoc and kill our other probiotic bacteria.

 

Swimmer's Ear, infections from wearing contact lenses, and puncture wounds in

children's feet which turn septic are all caused by the common bacteria

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is widely found in soil, water and sewage. While

only 3% of people normally harbour this organism in their intestines, during

hospitalization for critical illness, more than 50% of patients end up with this

bacteria. Most of the time Pseudomonas aeruginosa lives within our guts in

peaceful co-existence when we have plenty of food and good health. But in times

of stress such as during hospital stays they rapidly turn on us and become

concerned only for their own survival. Patients infected with Pseudomonas

aeruginosa have a high fatality rate approaching 40%.

 

" Since most hospital acquired infections develop from bacteria we already have

in our guts, working out how to shield them from the stress molecules we produce

may be a more effective treatment than trying to use antibiotics to kill them " ,

says medical researcher Professor Olga Zaborina from the University of Chicago,

USA.

 

The scientists have discovered for the first time that these bacteria have a

highly sophisticated sensing apparatus which recognises and intercepts chemical

compounds we produce during stress such as endorphin hormones, immune system

molecules such as interferon, and signals produced by damaged and oxygen starved

tissues like adenosine.

 

" This means that the bacteria have evolved a way of taking advantage of any

opportunity through their highly refined 'sense and respond circuits' which can

identify the very molecules we humans use to respond to stress or illness " , says

Professor Zaborina. " This virulence circuitry is so clever that P. aeruginosa

can recognise our weakness, communicate this information to other bacteria, and

simultaneously release compounds which kill our normal probiotic gut bacteria " ,

giving them home field advantage right off the bat.

 

Currently over-using antibiotics in hospitals is causing major problems with the

spread of antibiotic resistance amongst bacteria. Even ordinary environmental

bacteria have evolved a highly sophisticated mechanism to become resistant to

antibiotics, enabling them to kill badly stressed and weak patients. Intestinal

bacteria such as P. aeruginosa are a particular problem because they form a

protective slime, called a biofilm, which stops antibiotics from killing them.

Even within the slime they can still sense and respond to a host's stress

chemicals, causing infections.

 

The only treatments available until now have been a 'take no prisoners' approach

using antibiotics which kill several types of bacteria including the normal,

protective, probiotic bacteria in our guts, further weakening the patient.

 

" If we do not find a strategy to contain intestinal bacteria rather than

eliminating them, which helps spread resistance, we will soon run out of

effective antibiotics " , says Professor Zaborina. " We know of many diseases

caused or complicated by intestinal bacteria such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease,

infectious diarrhoea, or cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and bone marrow

transplants " .

 

" Yet in all these cases specific bacterial strains responsible for the problem

cannot always be identified, because the species are difficult to culture " , says

Professor Zaborina. In addition it is not just the mere presence of the strains

in the intestine that may be threatening, but rather the state of their

virulence, which is not routinely examined clinically. " Exposing the Dr Jekyll

and Mr Hyde nature of intestinal bacteria is a key to understanding how they

behave. We cannot afford to ignore their will to survive during stress " .

 

The scientists suggest that in future paying better attention to the needs of

our gut bacteria, especially when someone is sick, dehydrated, starved or

stressed, could help to reduce the need for antibiotics and lead to a lower

hospital acquired infection rate.

 

About the SOCIETY FOR GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY

 

The SGM has been established for over 50 years, promoting and supporting the

art, science and significance of microbiology and associated subjects worldwide.

 

SOCIETY FOR GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY

Marlborough House

Basingstoke Road, Spencers Wood

Reading

RG7 1AG

http://www.socgenmicrobiol.org.uk

 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=64924

 

---

 

Evolution Of Symbiotic Bacteria In The Distal Human IntestineMain Category:

Biology / Biochemistry News

Article 19 Jun 2007 - 1:00 PDT

 

The total number of microbes that colonize the surfaces of our adult bodies is

thought to be ten times greater than the total number of our human cells. Our

microbial partners provide us with certain features that we have not had to

evolve on our own. In this sense, we should consider ourselves to be a

supraorganism whose genetic landscape includes both our own genome as well as

the genomes of our resident microbes, and whose physiologic features are an

amalgamation of human and microbial metabolic traits.

 

The largest collection of microbes resides in our gut, which harbors trillions

of bacteria, representing hundreds of species, most falling into two groups: the

Bacteroidetes and the Firmicutes. The researchers have sequenced the genomes of

two human gut-dwelling Bacteroidetes, and compared their genomes to the genomes

of other bacteria that live both inside and outside of our bodies. The results

illustrate that adaptation to the gut habitat is a dynamic process that includes

acquisition of genes from other microorganisms. These findings emphasize the

importance of including the evolution of " our " microbial genomes when

considering the evolution of humans.

 

Citation: Xu J, Mahowald MA, Ley RE, Lozupone CA, Hamady M, et al. (2007)

Evolution of symbiotic bacteria in the distal human intestine. PLoS Biol 5(7):

e156. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050156.

Please

 

Public Library of Science

185 Berry Street, Suite 3100

San Francisco, CA 94107

USA

http://www.plos.org

 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=74221

 

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Your Gut Bacteria Makes You Fat, Diabetic, Fatty Livered and Full of Bad

Cholesterol - Bacteria from our intestines, more important for our health than

thought

By: Stefan Anitei, Science Editor

 

Bacteria in your guts are not just simple guests eating on your leftovers.

 

Beside digestive conditions, these bugs induce more severe problems, like

obesity and now they were found to influence how fat is digested and deposited

in the liver.

 

An imbalanced gut flora can affect this metabolic path and trigger diseases. Our

gut has up to 100 trillion bacteria, about 10% of the number of the human body's

cells.

 

In 2006, one team revealed that obese people carry a somewhat different

bacterial species load than normal weighed people. Other approaches showed that

gut microbes can induce insulin resistance, determining type 2 diabetes and

fatty liver disease, a severe condition.

 

To see how microbes impair metabolism, a team at the Nestlé Research Center in

Lausanne, Switzerland, led by biochemist Jeremy Nicholson of Imperial College

London studied the health of seven mice whose gut flora was substituted with

that of a 3-week old human infant. These results were compared with those

achieved from mice with normal gut flora. After four weeks, the team determined

levels of 12 bile acids in each mouse's urine, blood, liver and small intestine.

 

The liver synthesizes about 6 types of bile acids, which are released into the

small intestine to help digest fats. From the gut, the bile acids reach again

the liver and control cholesterol metabolism and other endocrine processes.

 

" But different gut microbes can modify the structure of bile acids in different

ways, adding or snipping off various parts of the molecules, which would

presumably alter their fat-dissolving abilities, " said Nicholson.

 

17 variants of bile acid were detected in the gut, assigned into two chemical

classes.

 

The mice with the human bacterial flora had more of one class of bile acid and

less of the other, translated into significantly different metabolites levels in

the urine, blood and liver compared to mice type bacterial flora.

 

" The results are the first to provide a detailed analysis how gut bugs shift the

balance of metabolites present, " said medical microbiologist David Relman of

Stanford University.

 

" They also mean that altering gut microflora has far-reaching physiological

consequences for the host animal. "

 

Mice with the human bacteria also presented more LDL (bad cholesterol), in the

liver and less glutathione, a natural antioxidant that impedes tissue damage.

 

" Major changes to gut flora like this could predispose the body toward disease. "

said Nicholson.

 

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Your-Gut-Bacteria-Makes-You-Fat-Diabetic-Fatty-Li\

vered-and-Full-of-Bad-Cholesterol-55592.shtml

 

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Hacking Your Body's Bacteria for Better Health Brandon Keim 04.26.07 |

2:00 AM

 

Modern humans are bacteria-killing machines. We assassinate microbes with

hand soap, mouthwash and bathroom cleaners. It feels clean and right.

 

But some scientists say we're overdoing it. All this killing may actually

cause diseases like eczema, irritable bowel syndrome and even diabetes. The

answer, they say, is counterintuitive: Feed patients bacteria.

 

" Probiotics (pills containing bacteria) have resulted in complete elimination

of eczema in 80 percent of the people we've treated, " says Dr. Joseph E.

Pizzorno Jr., a practicing physician and former member of the White House

Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. Pizzorno says he's

used probiotics to treat irritable bowel disease, acne and even premenstrual

syndrome. " It's unusual for me to see a patient with a chronic disease that

doesn't respond to probiotics. "

 

Clinical trial data on probiotics is incomplete, but there are many

indications that hacking the body's bacteria is beneficial.

In sheer numbers, bacterial cells in the body outnumber our own by a factor of

10, with 50 trillion bacteria living in the digestive system alone, where

they've remained largely unstudied until the last decade. As scientists learn

more about them, they're beginning to chart the complex symbiosis between the

tiny bugs and our health.

 

" The microbes that live in the human body are quite ancient, " says NYU Medical

Center microbiologist Dr. Martin Blaser, a pioneer in gut microbe research.

" They've been selected (through evolution) because they help us. "

 

And it now appears that our daily antibacterial regimens are disrupting a

balance that once protected humans from health problems, especially allergies

and malfunctioning immune responses.

 

" After the Second World War, when our lifestyles changed dramatically,

allergies increased. Autoimmune diseases like diabetes and inflammatory bowel

disease are increasing, " says Kaarina Kukkonen, a University of Helsinki allergy

expert. " The theory behind (what causes) the diseases is the same: Lacking

bacterial stimulation in our environments may cause this increase. I think this

is the tip of the iceberg. "

 

In a recent study, Kukkonen and her colleagues gave a probiotic containing

four strains of gut bacteria to 461 infants labeled as high risk for developing

allergic disorders. After two years, the children were 25 percent less likely

than those given a placebo to develop eczema, a type of allergic skin

inflammation. The study was published in the January issue of Journal of Allergy

and Clinical Immunology.

 

Microbial exposures early in life, scientists believe, cause mild inflammation

that calibrates the body's responses to other pathogens and contaminants later

in life. Without exposure as infants, researchers say, people can end up with

unbalanced immune systems.

 

" Many of the most difficult problems in medicine today are chronic

inflammatory diseases, " says Blaser. " These include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus,

atherosclerosis, eczema and multiple sclerosis. One possibility is that they're

autoimmune or genetic diseases. The other possibility is that they are

physiological responses to changes in microbiota. "

 

Blaser's specialty is Helicobacter pylori, a strain once common in every human

stomach but now rare in the West. Its disappearance may have benefits: H.

pylori-related inflammation is associated with peptic ulcers and some stomach

cancers. However, H. pylori also reduces acid reflux, which in turn is

associated with asthma and esophageal cancers.

 

H. pylori's decline, says Blaser, correlates with a rapid rise in those

afflictions. H. pylori deficiency may also contribute to obesity, he says,

because the bacteria help regulate production of two hormones, ghrelin and

leptin, that affect metabolism and appetite.

 

Low levels of Bacteroidetes have also been linked to obesity. Studies indicate

that bacterial imbalances are associated with irritable bowel syndrome,

post-surgical infections and type 1 diabetes.

 

The health-food movement has moved ahead with probiotics without regard for

clinical trial results. Women commonly use supplements like acidophilus to treat

yeast infections. Other probiotics are making their way into products such as

Kashi Vive cereal " to help you care for your digestive system " and Dannon's

Activia yogurt, which in its first year boasted more than $100 million in sales.

But scientists say over-the-counter probiotics are of inconsistent quality.

 

Pizzorno, for example, buys his probiotics from companies that sell directly

to doctors. Consumer probiotics don't always contain medically recognized

bacterial strains, he said, and often the bacteria they contain are dead.

 

" Most of the companies don't have any research ongoing at all, " says Stig

Bengmark, a University of London hepatologist. " They buy cheap bacteria from

yogurt companies and say it's good, but it's never proven. "

 

To more precisely hack the gut bacteria, Blaser calls for a Gut Genome

Project, modeled after the Human Genome Project. It's a daunting task: The human

genome, mapped to great fanfare but still dimly understood, contains a tenth of

the genes believed to be in our gut bacteria. But though difficult, such

research could prove vital.

 

" The world is very aware of the concept of global warming, which is a

macro-ecological change, " Blaser says. " I postulate that there are similar

micro-ecological changes going on inside us. "

 

See Also: Wired Science Blog: Biology

The Bacteria Whisperer

Life, Reinvented

West Recruits Bacteria Assassins

 

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2007/04/bacteriahacking

 

----------------

 

Gut Bacteria May Determine Dieting Efficiency

 

By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today

Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine,

University of California, San Francisco

December 21, 2006

 

 

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 21 -- Bacteria in the gut may be arbiters of weight loss or

gain, according to a revolutionary theory proposed by researchers here.

 

The way it works, said Jeffrey I. Gordon, M.D., of Washington University, and

colleagues, is that when an overweight person goes on a diet, one group of

efficient bacteria moves out of the gut and another less-efficient group moves

in to fill the void.

 

This finding suggested that manipulation of intestinal microbes might some

day be used to treat obesity, they reported in the Dec. 21 issue of Nature.

When the investigators conducted a census of intestinal flora in obese people as

they lost weight, they found that the proportion of Bacteriodetes and Firmicutes

bacteria changed in tandem with the drop in excess poundage. Whether the

change in bacteria drives the weight loss, or the weight loss puts pressure on

the bacterial composition of the gut, is unclear, the authors acknowledged, but

the findings raise intriguing questions about the nature of obesity. In

studies with mice, the authors also found that bacteria in obese animals helped

the body be more efficient at extracting energy from food, and that the trait

could be transmitted from fat mice to thin. When germ-free mice were

populated with the type of gut bacteria typical in obese animals, they put on

significantly more fat than

germ-free mice colonized with " lean " bacteria, the investigators wrote.

" This is a potentially revolutionary idea that could change our views of what

causes obesity and how we depend on the bacteria that inhabit our gut, " wrote

Randy J. Seeley, Ph.D., and Matej Bajzer of the Obesity Center at the University

of Cincinnati, in an accompanying editorial. " But a great deal remains poorly

understood. Most notably, it is not clear whether such small changes in caloric

extraction can actually contribute to meaningful differences in body weight. "

Dr. Gordon agreed that energy intake and expenditure -- diet and exercise -- are

the major contributors to body weight, but noted that gut bacteria may also play

a part. " The amount of calories you consume by eating, and the amount of

calories you expend by exercising are key determinants of your tendency to be

obese or lean, " said Dr. Gordon, director of the Center for Genome Sciences at

Washington University. " Our

studies imply that differences in our gut microbial ecology may determine how

many calories we are able to extract and absorb from our diet and deposit in our

fat cells. " The bugs in question are bacteria in the phyla Bacteriotedes

and Firmicutes, species of which comprise more than 90% of intestinal microbes

in both humans and mice. In an earlier study, the investigators had shown that

genetically obese mice had 50% fewer Bacteroidetes and proportionately more

Firmicutes in their guts than lean littermates, and that the differences in

proportion held true across different species within the respective phyla.

In one of two studies published in Nature, the authors, led by Ruth Ley, Ph.D.,

a microbial ecologist in Dr. Gordon's group, reported follow-up results on

microbial studies of 12 obese patients followed at a weight-loss clinic over a

year. Half of the patients were on a calorie-restricted low-fat diet, and the

other half were on a calorie-restricted low

carbohydrate diet. The authors monitored the gut flora in the patients by

sequencing 16S ribosomal RNA genes from stool samples. At baseline the

patients had the same relative proportions of gut microflora as the obese mice:

short on Bacteriodetes species and long on Firmicutes. But as they lost weight,

the proportions began to shift, as Bacteriodetes species enjoyed a population

boom, and Firmicutes species dwindled in number. The changes occurred equally in

patients on both diets. In addition, just as they had seen in mice, the

authors observed that Bacteriodetes species as a group increased, not just one

or two species. In the second study, led by Peter Turnbaugh, a Ph.D.,

student in Dr. Gordon's lab, the investigators conducted metagenomic studies in

obese and lean mice using massively parallel DNA sequencing, and found that the

microbiome in the obese mice had a greater capacity for digesting

polysaccharides, indicating an enhanced ability to process

food. And when they transferred the microflora from obese or lean mice

into germ-free animals, they found that the newly colonized animals who had

received bugs from the cecum of obese mice laid in significantly more fat

without an increase in caloric intake. In contrast, the once germ-free mice who

got bacteria from their lean brethren put on some fat, but not nearly as much.

" Are some adults predisposed to obesity because they 'start out' with fewer

Bacteroidetes and more Firmicutes in their guts? " Dr. Gordon asked. " Can

features of a reduced Bacteroidetes-Firmicutes enriched microbial community

become part of our definition of an obese state or a diagnostic marker for an

increased risk for obesity? And can we intentionally manipulate our gut

microbial communities in safe and beneficial ways to regulate energy balance? "

In their editorial, Dr. Seeley and Bajzer noted that the mechanism whereby

differences in body weight translate in changes in

intestinal bacteria are unknown. " Given that acquiring food from the

environment can be both calorically expensive and potentially dangerous, it

would seem to be most adaptive to extract as many calories from every bite of

food as possible, " they wrote. " Moreover, if caloric extraction does

become more efficient, the regulatory system would dictate that the organism

responds by reducing its caloric intake, " they continued. " If a host organism

had the ability to change its microbiota so as to increase caloric extraction,

it would seem most adaptive to do so when facing famine conditions and losing

weight. However, the data indicate just the opposite -- the microbiota seems to

be more efficient in obese humans who already have the most stored energy, and

shifts to being less efficient as the subjects lose weight. "

Neither the authors nor the editorialists declared any financial conflicts.

 

Additional Obesity Coverage

 

Primary source: Nature

Source reference:

Ley RE et al. " Human gut microbes associated with obesity. " Nature

444;7122:1022-23.

 

Additional source: Nature

Source reference:

Bajzer M and Seeley RJ. " Obesity and gut flora. " Nature 444;7122:1009-10.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/Obesity/tb/4750

 

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