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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...

Findings from a new study suggest that taking a probiotic could help prevent the decline in memory and thinking that can accompany aging. This research may pave the way for new, non-invasive treatments that leverage the gut microbiome to mitigate cognitive decline in the aging population. The researchers found that when study participants with mild cognitive impairment received the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) for three months, their cognitive scores increased. This cognitive improvement was also associated with changes in their gut microbiome. The study involved 169 participants between 52 and 75 years old who were divided into two groups...

In mice with melanoma, probiotic bacteria travel from the gut and establish in tumors, where they directly stimulate immune cells to make cancer immunotherapy more effective, according to a study. The study showed Lactobacillus reuteri stimulates cancer-killing T cells by secreting a compound called indole-3-aldehyde, or I3A. When the researchers gave mice a diet rich in the amino acid tryptophan—which the bacteria convert to I3A—immunotherapy drugs had a stronger effect on restraining tumor size and prolonging survival. Several recent studies have found a link between probiotic supplements and immunotherapy response in melanoma patients. Compared to control mice, those given L....

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...

A promising approach to control Staphylococcus aureus bacterial colonization in people—using a probiotic instead of antibiotics—was safe and highly effective in a Phase 2 clinical trial. The new study found that the probiotic Bacillus subtilis markedly reduced S. aureus colonization in trial participants without harming the gut microbiota. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus, or MRSA, is familiar to many people as a cause of serious disease. Less well known is that S. aureus often lives in the nose, on the body and in the gut without causing any harm. However, if the skin barrier is broken, or the immune system compromised, these...

Intubation of an infant with any lung condition, or even an adult with severe COVID-19 using either ventilation or extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), comes with risks and side effects that could cause permanent damage not limited to the lungs. Consider this: The human intestine receives almost one-third of the body's cardiac output. What if we could spare oxygen in the gut and redistribute oxygen to other body districts to avoid intubation? Researchers have found that an extra amount of oxygen is available to organs critical for the survival of the individual, including the heart, brain, kidneys and liver, by reducing...

Scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine have identified a dead probiotic that reduces age-related leaky gut in older mice. The study is published in the journal GeroScience. But what exactly is leaky gut and what does a probiotic -- dead or alive -- have to do with it? Some research has indicated that leaky gut, in which microbes and bacteria in the gut leak into the blood stream through holes or cracks in the intestinal lining, causes an increase in low-grade inflammation, and these conditions are common in older people. This resulting inflammation is thought to play a role...

“Our work demonstrates that the gut bacterial microbiome in chronic fatigue syndrome patients isn’t normal, perhaps leading to gastrointestinal and inflammatory symptoms in victims of the disease,” said Maureen Hanson, a professor of molecular biology and genetics at Cornell. “Furthermore, our detection of a biological abnormality provides further evidence against the ridiculous concept that the disease is psychological in origin.” In a study published this month in the journal Microbiome, Cornell University researchers looked at stool and blood samples of 48 people diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (or more formally, myalgic encephalomyelitis) and at 39 healthy volunteers. They found two...

(Newser) – As many as three million Americans may be allergic to peanuts, the Huffington Post has reported, with one study suggesting that the number of kids with the allergy doubled between 1997 and 2002. But those who are affected may have a reason to smile: A new study could point the way to a cure for the condition, the Australian Associated Press reports via the Guardian. For a year and a half, 30 kids with the allergy were given peanut protein plus a probiotic every day; another 30 received a placebo, researchers at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute report....

Researchers from Spain have identified a strain of probiotic bacteria that may be useful in treating ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori. They report their findings in the February 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. "H. pylori is considered one of the major risk factors underlying the development of gastritis and gastric and duodenal ulcers," write the researchers. "Currently, antibiotic-based treatment for H. pylori infection is neither sufficient nor satisfactory, with the most successful treatments reaching 75 to 90% eradication rates. The use of probiotics is a potentially promising tool to prevent H. pylori." According to an expert...