Posted on 01/31/2011 5:02:04 PM PST by decimon
Probiotic offers possibility of safe, drug-free treatment
CHICAGO --- You know the probiotics in your peach yogurt are healthful, but now it appears they may also be a powerful treatment for disease.
A genetically tweaked version of a common probiotic found in yogurt and cheese appears to be an effective therapy for inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It may also prove to be useful in colon cancer, another disease triggered by inflammation.
Northwestern Medicine researchers deleted a gene in the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus and fed the new form to mice with two different models of colitis. After 13 days of treatment, the novel probiotic strain nearly eliminated colon inflammation in the mice and halted progression of their disease by 95 percent.
"This opens brand new avenues to treat various autoimmune diseases of the gut, including inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer, all which can be triggered by imbalanced inflammatory immune responses," said Mansour Mohamadzadeh, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead investigator of the study. He also is a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
The study will be published Jan. 31 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
While the origin of these bowel diseases is not known, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are two chronically relapsing diseases in which sufferers have an ongoing tissue inflammation that alters the functioning of the intestine. The diseases affect more than 1 million people in the United States and can cause weight loss, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping and gastrointestinal bleeding. Current drug treatment is not completely effective and patients can relapse, Mohamadzadeh said.
"Such gene targeting in a probiotic bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus offers the possibility of a safe, drug-free treatment in the near future," he said.
In the study, the modified Lactobacillus acidophilus entered the gut, which is akin to a battlefield of friendly fire with immune cells attacking the intestine. The Lactobacillus acidophilus acted as the gut's peacekeeping force, calming the overstimulated immune cells.
The probiotic restored intestinal peace by mobilizing messenger immune cells, called dendritic cells. The dendritic cells, in turn, enhanced the production of other functional immune cells, regulatory T-cells that rebalanced intestinal and systemic inflammation.
"They essentially calm everything down and restore it to normal," Mohamadzadeh explained. The next step will be a clinical trial with the new form of Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Mohamadzadeh and his colleagues at the Lurie Cancer Center are currently researching the effect of the new Lactobacillus acidophilus on colon cancer.
What is the purpose of modifying it? Doesn’t the real thing work just as well?
Lactobacillus acidophilus is a common health product so it would be known if it worked unaltered.
Thanks, bookmarking.
Bacteria, Bowels and Health
Most people do not understand that we live in a sea of bacteria. There are bacteria, and related organisms called Archea, at the bottom of the sea and probably deep into the earth. The vast majority of these bacteria do us no harm and, in fact, some are necessary for health and even life. For example, if a patient has been taking antibiotics for several weeks, their blood clotting may be seriously impaired. This is because vitamin K is manufactured in the gut by bacteria, which are killed off by antibiotics.
Our bodies are a complicated ecosystem full of flora. In fact, the bacteria outnumber our own cells by 10 times. There are around 10 trillion cells that make up the human body, and we have around 100 trillion bacteria cells in our digestive tracts.
“Patients coming in for simple surgeries, like hernia repairs, who had not been on antibiotics and who had not been around hospitals, had a stool sample taken. That stool specimen was mixed with a malted milkshake and given to the colon surgery patients.” http://abriefhistory.org/?p=2695
In fact, the bacteria outnumber our own cells by 10 times.
Maybe it's more that we are a sea for bacteria. Our function is to support them. ;-)
Not too long ago, a scientific error led to a discovery that Vitamin E can reverse fatty liver in many people.
There was a test of a new drug, with a little concern that it might affect liver chemistry, so frequent liver blood marker tests were needed.
They needed a placebo for the control group, so decided to use Vitamin E. And while the test drug didn’t harm the liver, the control group had a noticeable drop in the fatty liver blood marker.
It totally ruined the experiment. However...
That reverses an old joke. "The operation was a failure but the patient lived."
Ping... (Thanks, neverdem and decimon!)
Was the NAME of the new geneically modified acidophillus ever mentioned?
WHY would it be superior to the UN-modified, natural version -- which doesn't CURE these diseases????
A poo poo milkshake? OMG!
Thanks for the ping!
You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!
Was the NAME of the new geneically modified acidophillus ever mentioned?
WHY would it be superior to the UN-modified, natural version -- which doesn't CURE these diseases????
I think you're way off base here. If you believe that unaltered Lactobacillus acidophilus will do the same then go to any store and buy some. A name? They must have given it some designation but so what? If they'd called it William would that change anything?
Off base???
For asking a question???
wEll, hArdY har har.... FORGIVE ME FOR POSTING TO YOUR PRECIOUS THREAD.
ALL I want to know is the NAME of this genetically modified version of acidophilus ---- THAT is a "crime"?????
Nevermind, I'll do my own google news alerts.
Good by.
If this is a ping list, can I get on it?
You suggested that this is a fraud, just a way to get a patent on a natural product. Given that the natural product is plentiful, cheap and easily tested, that is an extreme contention.
Do you expect an experimental substance to have a trade name? It likely has an appropriate scientific designation.
I want the NAME of this substance because I happen to know a family where several people have these illnesses, and I want to set up a google search, so that I can update them on developments.
Smokin Joe -- KINDLY REMOVE ME FROM YOUR PING LIST *IMMEDIATELY*
IF either of you ever happen to learn of the NAME of this new geneticially modified acidophilus, please freepmail me. It obviously will be a patented substance, eventually available via prescription ONLY, and will have both a generic name and a prescription drug name.
Thank you, both.
I will do as you request.
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