<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I'm sending along an interesting news note from a health newsletter.  I
wonder if our bacteria types change on a gf diet?  Also, if a certain
bacteria type could be one of the factors predisposing to celiac disease,
since HLA type is not all of the story?  My own symptoms erupted after a
double dose of antibiotics.

 

There was another good article on calcium that reminds that recent research
on calcium shows that >700 mg/day is not any more helpful for bones and can
promote kidney stones.  That should be of interest to the list since we are
at risk for osteoporosis and tank up on calcium (adding the article made
this too long to include but if you are interested I could send it along
later).

 

Mary in upstate NY

 



August 23, 2011

 Bottom Line's Daily Health News
<http://images.bottomlinesecrets.com/DHN/DHN_FINAL_B.gif> 

Bugs-R-You? New Approach to Health and Medicine Based on Personal Bacteria
Typing

 

Just like we have blood types, research indicates that, depending on the
bacteria we carry, we may well have gut types too. Our bodies play host to
trillions of microbes that assume a significant role in health and
well-being, and now European researchers have discovered three distinct
types of microbial ecosystems that exist inside us. 

 

Regular readers of Daily Health News know that doctors are paying more and
more attention to bacteria in our digestive system -- in fact, we've covered
the role of bacteria as it relates not only to digestion but also to
immunity, anxiety, obesity and mental illness, to name just a few. I believe
this may be one of the most important new areas of medical research, so I
found this latest report especially intriguing. To learn more about it, I
spoke with Manimozhiyan Arumugam, PhD, a research scientist at the European
Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. He said that he
expects that doctors will someday use bacterial typing to individualize
treatment decisions, such as how you are likely to respond to different
diets and drugs.

 

What's Your Type?

 

The study is small but quite compelling. As part of a European consortium,
Dr. Arumugam (working at EMBL) and his colleagues at several other
institutions took stool samples from 22 Europeans and analyzed the bacterial
DNA content to identify the dominant bacteria of each. They then grouped
this data together with results from earlier studies typing the gut bacteria
of other Europeans, Americans and Japanese (276 people in all). All ate a
typical Western diet, Dr. Arumugam told me. 

 

Results: Taken together, the scientists identified three microbial
ecosystems or "enterotypes" that varied according to the types of bacteria
present. Enterotype one had high levels of a genus called Bacteroides...
type two contained predominantly Prevotella... and Ruminococcus was dominant
in type three. While it isn't understood how this affects our health,
researchers were interested to observe that type one produced more enzymes
for making vitamin B-7 (biotin) and was better at processing
carbohydrates... type two produced more enzymes for making B-1 (thiamine)
and was better at metabolizing mucin proteins (found in the mucosal lining
of the gut, where they form a protective layer against pathogens)... and
type three was best at processing mucins and sugars.

 

Factors such as ethnicity, sex, weight, health and age had no strong
connections to enterotypes, a finding that surprised and perplexed
investigators. In other words, a slight, older woman in Japan might have
more intestinally in common with a large young man in France than with
another Japanese person. The human gut is an extremely complex ecosystem
with thousands of microbial species, Dr. Arumugam explained, and this is
exactly why more research is needed to identify what determines enterotypes.
It might turn out that genetic markers rule bacterial type, or it might be a
combination of many factors. 

 

These findings were published in the April 20, 2011, issue of the journal
Nature. 

 

Gut Instinct -- This May Be Big

 

Because the samples have been small and included people who followed
primarily a Western diet, Dr. Arumugam warns that we cannot conclude that
all human beings have one of these three ecosystems (though that may turn
out to be the case). Dr. Arumugam told me there is not currently funding for
a large-scale study, but his team is trying to launch a not-for-profit study
of willing participants (you can get more information at
http://My.Microbes.eu
<http://news.bottomlinepublishing.com/a/hBOU3x9B8V0u3B8c5BiNGoqzvv3/dhn1> ).


 

He noted that it wouldn't be surprising to uncover additional enterotypes or
subtypes since the prevailing belief is that both "nature and nurture"
contribute to the population of our gut bacteria. 

 

In the meantime, the health implications are tantalizing if still unclear.
Unlocking the mystery of gut ecosystems might lead to an alternative to
antibiotics -- new drugs that restore the type of good bacteria you have in
your gut rather than indiscriminately wiping out all bacteria, good and bad.
Additionally, if it turns out that genetic markers determine intestinal
ecosystem type, doctors may be able to use this information to predict who
is susceptible to disorders such as colorectal cancer, metabolic syndrome
and diabetes. 

 

Stay tuned, as scientists at the EMBL and other facilities around the world
continue to study gut ecosystems and their important impact on human health.


 

Source(s): 

Manimozhiyan Arumugam, PhD, research scientist, European Molecular Biology
Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany. 

  _____  

Be well, 

  <http://images.bottomlinesecrets.com/DHN/carole_signature.gif> 
Carole Jackson 
Bottom Line's Daily Health News

 

 
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if> 

 


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