The microbiome consists of all the microorganisms that live within specific environments within the human body. The microbiota is responsible for much of our immunity and protection against disease causing bacteria. Additionally it helps us to digest our food and it produces specific vitamins that our body can’t otherwise make such as some vitamin B’s and vitamin K. The mechanisms through which the microbiota accomplishes this and other essential tasks is still being researched. The current research on the microbiome is heavily focusing on the way in which the microbiome is connected to health and disease progression which could possibly lead to a more specialized route of treatment or prevention of different illnesses. Within the last 6 months some researchers have made a lot of progress in this area and there is a lot of evidence supporting the fact that the gut microbiome controls much more than just what happens in the GI tract.
Recently, Sibo Zhu, Yanfeng Jiang and Kelin Xu published an article entitled “The progress of gut microbiome research related to brain disorders” which spoke about the way in which gut microbiota affects cognitive function as well as the connection to the progress of neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases. Focusing a lot on the way in which the blood brain barrier (BBB) is affected by the actions of the gut microbiota which in turn affects the way in which diseases that target the brain and nervous system can process in the body. Still the exact way in which the microbiota affects the blood brain barrier is unknown, but the researchers believe that it could be regulated by gut derived neurotransmitters or bacteria metabolites. There is evidence though that the barrier becomes increasingly permeable when there is less healthy gut microbiota and the BBB is restored to its normal permeability when there is no longer a disease in the body. This fact is vital to understanding the mechanisms through which disease is transmitted in the body as well as the way that the microbiome is intertwined with other systems. To focus on one disease of the many that the researchers covered, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Gut dysbiosis was found in many of the patients with ALS, specifically there was a significantly decreased amount of butyrate, yet when diseased mice were given water infused with butyrate, the severity of their symptoms decreased and their survival rate increased. This is evidence that by affecting the microbiome, there is a direct effect on disease progression and severity.
“Celiac’s Disease and the Microbiome” by Francesco Valitutti, Salvadore Cucchira and Alessio Fasano is another article that details the way in which the gut microbiota affects the disease progression. Celiac’s disease (CD) is an immune reaction to eating gluten so a lot of the bacterial microorganisms are involved in the disease’s pathogenesis. The researchers point out that diet and form of delivery at birth both heavily impact the way in which the microbiota forms and thus how CD affects the body. Children born via C-section do not get coated in the bacteria from the vaginal canal which is supposed to help the child form a healthy microbiome of their own and so without this, there is evidence that these people have an increased risk for developing CD. The researchers then delve into the ability that working with the microbiota has to enhance the treatment and prevention of the disease. A couple studies have shown that the Bifidobacteria microbiota component can “degrade proinflammatory gluten peptides in the small intestine, thus reducing their immunogenic potential”. So if it’s possible to give therapies that work with enhancing the microbiota components to decrease the immune response to gluten and break it down so that there is less of a response.
Microbiology Blog 