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Findings from researchers show high blood levels of TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide) predict future risk of developing chronic kidney disease over time. The findings build on more than a decade of research related to the gut microbiome's role in cardiovascular health and disease, including the adverse effects of TMAO, a byproduct formed by the gut bacteria from nutrients abundant in red meat, eggs and other animal source foods. The large-scale study measured blood levels of TMAO over time in two large NIH populations and followed the kidney function of more than 10,000 U.S. adults with normal kidney function at baseline over...

Disturbed gut flora during the first years of life is associated with diagnoses such as autism and ADHD later in life, according to a study. The study is part of the ABIS study. More than 16,000 children born in 1997–1999, representing the general population, have been followed from birth into their twenties. Of these, 1,197 children, corresponding to 7.3%, have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, communication disorder or intellectual disability. Children who had repeated ear infections during their first year of life had an increased risk of being diagnosed with a developmental neurological disorder later in life. It...

A new U-M study finds a complex interplay between diet, genes, and the gut microbiota that could explain why IBD develops. The newest study builds on previous work that found that a low fiber diet led to a proliferation of mucin degrading bacteria—bacteria that thrive by eating the mucus lining of the intestine. In some people, genetic loss of a cytokine—a protein that affects the immune system—known as interleukin-10 (IL-10) or its receptor, leads to the early onset of IBD. While some of these mice spontaneously developed inflammation in their intestinal tracts as well, the level of severity varied and...

A study of two large European patient cohorts has found that for every 10% increase in butyrate-producing bacteria in a patient's gut, the risk of hospitalization for any infection falls by between 14 and 25% across two large national cohorts. Microbiota alterations are common in patients hospitalized for severe infections and preclinical models have shown that anaerobic butyrate-producing gut bacteria protect against systemic infections. These bacteria were investigated because they are commonly depleted in patients hospitalized for severe infections. Secondly, butyrate may have protective effects in several intestinal diseases (other than infections). The relationship between microbiota disruptions and increased susceptibility...

Tomatoes could help fight off bacterial infections in your gut, a new study has found. One of the world's most widely consumed vegetables (or perhaps fruit?), they are packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and other compounds – two of which scientists at Cornell University in the US have identified for their potent bacteria-killing properties in a series of cell experiments. The research team, led by Cornell microbiologist Jeongmin Song, was interested in Salmonella, a genus of enteric bacteria that invade the intestine, often causing food poisoning. Specifically, the team focused on one typhoidal serotype of Salmonella, Salmonella enterica Typhi, which lives...

What does Paul mean by belly here? The stomach or appetite, as some translations read, represents our instinctual and base-level desires, our hungers, cravings, and lusts. For the ancients, the belly was the most animalistic part of all humans, and we tend to agree with them, even is subconsciously. After all, how often do you have a gut-feeling about something? Do you ever question whether or not you should just go with your gut? Have you ever felt the fluttering in your gut while in the throes of infatuation? Our gut is our primal nature, working beyond the confines of...

A randomized controlled trial finds that the synbiotic drug SIM01 relieves multiple symptoms of long COVID, or post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS). SIM01 contains strains of anaerobic Bifidobacterium bacteria (which are probiotics) and soluble fibers (prebiotics) to alter the gut microbiome and possibly modify immune response. From June 2021 to August 2022, researchers from randomly assigned 463 adult long COVID patients at a single hospital in a 1:1 ratio to receive SIM01 or a vitamin C placebo by mouth twice daily for six months. The median interval between infection and random assignment was four months. "Decreased abundance of short-chain fatty acid-producing...

Increasing the amount of folate through our diet or taking supplements could help to reduce bowel cancer risk. These are the findings of new research. It suggests that increasing the intake of folate—which can be found in leafy greens, such as spinach, cabbage and broccoli—could help to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by up to 7%. In line with previous studies, they found that people consuming higher levels of dietary folate, the odds of developing CRC (including proximal colon, distal colon, and rectal cancer) were reduced by 7% for every 260 micrograms higher consumption of dietary folate, which corresponds...

Incorporating navy beans into the diet of colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors has the potential to positively impact both gut and host health by modulating markers linked to obesity and disease, according to research. The findings revealed BE GONE trial participants who added a cup of navy beans daily to their regular meals saw positive changes in their gut microbiome, which is associated with cancer prevention and improved treatment outcomes. Changes included an increase of alpha diversity, or beneficial bacteria (Faecalibacterium, Eubacterium, and Bifidobacterium) and decreased pathogenic, or opportunistic, bacteria. "Observing a shift in microbiome diversity with diet intervention alone is...

Interactions among microorganisms within the human gut may be associated with increased anxiety levels in people with depression, according to research. Using advanced bioinformatics tools like 16S rRNA gene sequencing, researchers analyzed stool samples from 178 patients with a current or past diagnosis of depression who are part of an ongoing Texas Resilience Against Depression (T-RAD) study. The analysis revealed three networks of gut microbial communities, one of which was correlated with anxiety. While the early findings raise the possibility that gut bacteria could affect anxiety levels, further validation is needed to confirm whether there is a relationship and how...

Recent studies indicate that inflammation is one of the causes of the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Inflammation may result from past infections, metabolic disorders, but also from the state of functioning of the intestinal microbiota. In this new study, researchers aimed to assess whether the diagnostic lipid parameters for metabolic syndrome and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are related to the immunoexpression of interleukins in prostate tissue with benign hyperplasia. The study involved 103 men with BPH, who were divided into two groups depending on the presence of MetS. "We analyzed tissue immunoexpression of two proinflammatory interleukins: IL-6, which...

Researchers conducted a phase I pilot study to assess the feasibility of using potato starch as a dietary intervention to modify the gut microbiome in bone marrow transplant patients. The study is the first part of a two-phase ongoing clinical trial evaluating the effect of modifying the microbiome on the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a major complication that develops in up to half the patients who receive a bone marrow transplant and can lead to injury and death. Previous pre-clinical data from the Reddy lab demonstrated that butyrate, a compound produced by healthy intestinal bacteria when they digest resistant...

Researchers have discovered the link between the gut microbiota and Alzheimer's disease. For the first time, researchers have found that Alzheimer's symptoms can be transferred to a healthy young organism via the gut microbiota, confirming its role in the disease. The study supports the emergence of the gut microbiome as a key target for investigation in Alzheimer's disease due to its particular susceptibility to lifestyle and environmental influence. The study shows that that the memory impairments in people with Alzheimer's could be transferred to young animals through transplant of gut microbiota. Alzheimer's patients had a higher abundance of inflammation-promoting bacteria...

Researchers have identified a microbial signature for autism spectrum disorder, a critical finding that offers clarity about how the gut microbiome influences this neurological syndrome.The data-driven study published by 43 researchers challenges the idea that autism is a primarily genetic condition and suggests that environmental factors may be behind the sharp rise in the debilitating condition.The trillions of microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms) that populate the gut microbiome are the basis of that microbial signature. Other research has found that having more microbes and greater diversity is associated with health and lower disease risk. Among other tasks, gut...

Researchers have found a link between chemotherapy-induced changes to gut bacteria and the unhealthy weight gain seen in breast cancer patients, pointing the way to potentially help survivors avoid obesity-related illness later in their lives. In newly published research, a team found that the patients treated with chemotherapy lost muscle mass and gained abdominal fat, which has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and even cancer recurrence. The chemo patients also exhibited signs of inflammation and significant changes to the number and variety of bacteria in their guts. Obesity has been linked with several kinds of cancer, including breast cancer,...

An article shows that melatonin, despite its antioxidant effects and role in regulating sleep cycles, can worsen inflammation of the intestine and impair the action of gut microbiota. Melatonin is popularly known as the "sleep hormone" and is often taken as a so-called food supplement without a doctor's prescription by people with sleep problems. "It's generally thought to be harmless. However, our study shows that the ingestion of melatonin supplement can have adverse effects on health," said Cristina Ribeiro de Barros Cardoso. Melatonin can act as an antioxidant and improve several physiological or pathological conditions. "We started out in this...

A study has found that compared with standard antibiotic treatment, stool transplantation can increase the number of people recovering from Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infection, a condition that causes potentially life-threatening diarrhea. Within the study, 77% of people who received a stool transplant did not experience reinfection within eight weeks, compared to 40% of those who received antibiotics alone. Transplanting healthy donor stool into a gut with dysbiosis is intended to balance the gut microbes and reestablish a healthy microbiome, thus significantly reducing the risk of C. diff recurring. The US FDA has recently approved a stool transplant product for...

Even as pancreatic cancer treatments improve, only about 9% of patients survive past five years. Researchers have searched unsuccessfully to find genetic differences that explain why some patients survive long term and some do not and have now shifted their focus to the gut microbiome. The microbiome is a term used for the collection of microbes, including microorganisms like bacteria, that live on or in the human body. Jordan Kharofa, MD, said there was little known about the microbiome of long-term pancreatic cancer survivors. "There is emerging science suggesting that pancreas cancer survivors have a robust immune response in their...

The opportunistic pathogen Klebsiella aerogenes degrades estradiol and induces depressive-like behavior in mice. Gut Bacterium Linked to Depression in Premenopause women Klebsiella aerogenes, a bacterium associated with poor clinical outcomes in hospitals, is more prevalent in the gut of premenopausal women with depression than in premenopausal women without it, reports a study published today (March 17) in Cell Metabolism. The authors identified a key enzyme in the bacterium’s genome that degrades the ovarian hormone estradiol. Declining estradiol levels have been linked to female depression in humans. After finding that the levels of this steroid hormone were significantly lower in 91...

A large team has discovered some of the ways gut bacteria can positively impact treatments for cancer. The group studied the impact of gut microbiota on chemotherapy given to patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Prior research has shown that chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer that has metastasized sometimes works well but is sometimes ineffective, and this difference may be tied to dietary resistance, though its source is not known. In this new study, the team looked at the possibility that certain microorganisms in the gut microbiome play a role in the process. To better understand how the gut microbiome might play...