Gut microbes get first dibs on heart meds

Science News ^ | July 19, 2013 | Jessica Shugart

[neverdem]

Some people harbor a strain of bacteria that chews through cardiac medication

The next time you pop a pill, know that the microbes in your gut might get to it before you do. Some people harbor a strain of bacteria that inactivates a common cardiac drug, a finding that could explain why people have different reactions to some medications.

“Microbes have long been known to ‘steal’ drugs by converting them into inactive forms,” says Peter Turnbaugh of Harvard University, who led the study. But picking out the specific culprits among the gut’s throngs of bacterial suspects has been a challenge for scientists, he says.

Turnbaugh’s team focused on microbial interactions with the cardiac drug digoxin. Made by the foxglove plant, digoxin has been used for more than 200 years to treat irregular heartbeat. More than 30 years ago, scientists discovered that some patients harbor a common gut bacterium, Eggerthella lenta, that could convert the drug to an inactive form, dihydrodigoxin. But researchers were confounded by the observation that some E. lenta carriers still had the active drug in their blood.

Turnbaugh’s team decided to dig into E. lenta’s genes. The results, reported in the July 19 Science, reveal a small cluster of E. lenta genes responsible for nixing digoxin. The researchers found that not every strain of E. lenta turns on the drug-dampening genes...

[Wonder Warthog]

I was inspired to look it up and found this:

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2013/01/19/the-40-greatest-quotes-from-winston-churchill-n1492794/page/full

[Wonder Warthog]

Great link. I have been reading little bits and pieces about this, and can personally attest to the truth of it, as can my wife. She is in the throes of recovery from the effects of a “GI tract biofilm”. As a result of it, she was literally starving to death while eating normally. The effects of such a film are to retard (or prevent) the transfer of nutrients across the intestinal wall into the bloodstream.

[poobear]

Thank you Yaelle. I have a very healthy relationship with food. I seem to crave the things my body needs most. Today it was berries and ground flax seed. This whole infection is a new one for me. I have to do this 4 drug cocktail 3 times a day. I don’t have a choice. It could take a good year before I start absorbing food like I used to. I’ve got the time (I hope) so I’m gonna fight it. Just trying not to lose too much weight. Right now I’m holding at 123. Pretty skinny but not bones. I’m also going to look up that book later today once the nurse leaves. Thanks again! Encouragement is a great medicine.