Could a probiotic be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease? (role of iron in IBS)

University of Bristol ^ | October 19, 2011 | Unknown

[decimon]

Scientists have been unclear for some time about how most probiotics work. A new study has found a scientific 'design' for a probiotic that could be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn's disease.

The research by academics at the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences and the School of Clinical Medicine is published online in the journal PLoS ONE.

Most probiotics on the market, such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, are lactic acid bacteria. Although probiotics have been shown to successfully maintain remission in IBD, evidence of their effectiveness in active disease is rare. The researchers have found that this is because an increase in iron levels, which happens during active IBD, inhibits the growth of probiotic bacteria, including Lactobacillus.

Iron levels increase in the intestine during inflammation, bleeding, during stress and when people are taking iron supplements. Iron is critically important to the growth of most species of bacteria, including pathogens, and its availability is what restricts their growth. It is well known that pathogens increase growth rate by up to 8,000 times when exposed to increased levels of iron. Lactic acid bacteria are unusual as they have evolved not to require iron, and so do not increase growth rate when exposed to it.

Dr Tristan Cogan, Research Fellow in the School of Veterinary Sciences, said: "When we started our study we considered the properties that a probiotic would need to treat IBD. Most importantly, it would need to be able to survive and grow in the presence of high levels of iron and to reduce inflammation. We then worked out how to test bacteria to see whether it had these properties.

[SunkenCiv]

IBS all the time, no one seems to notice.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

The study then identified a strain, which the academics have patented, that can and showed that it has probiotic and immunomodulatory properties, and can reduce pro-inflammatory responses to pathogens associated with IBD.

You can patent bacteria?? Wow! I guess most anything can be patented then.

[neverdem]

"The study then identified a strain, which the academics have patented, that can and showed that it has probiotic and immunomodulatory properties, and can reduce pro-inflammatory responses to pathogens associated with IBD."

You can patent bacteria?? Wow! I guess most anything can be patented then.

Seeing is believing.

Identification and Characterisation of an Iron-Responsive Candidate Probiotic

Competing interests: TC and JB have a patent applied (GB 1112487.2) for "A Streptococcus thermophilus isolate that can increase growth rate in response to increased iron availability." The bacterial strain has been deposited as a patent deposit in a culture collection ahead of filing and will be made freely available to researchers by the authors. The authors confirm that they will adhere to the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The authors confirm that they have no other competing interests.

With PLoS, Public Library of Science, journals, if you have the title within quotation marks, BINGO, you have a FReebie.