Bacteria Research: Competition between 'good bacteria' important for healthy gut ♦ Researchers develop antibiotic alternative for wound infections

Competition between 'good bacteria' important for healthy gut The vital ecosystem of bacteria in the human gut operates like a jungle, with competition between microbes helping maintain the stability necessary to keep us health

Controlling levels of specific gut bacteria could help prevent severe diarrhea Everyone has suffered from it. It's ranged from mild to severe. It's a condition that's most-often described in a whisper. Diarrhea. Severe cases of diarrhea, however, are no joking matter. New research may offer patients suffering from acute cases new treatments that focus on intestinal microbial communities to prevent the disease.

Researchers develop antibiotic alternative for wound infections For the first time, researchers have discovered how electrical stimulation works for the treatment of bacterial infections, paving the way for a viable alternative to medicinal antibiotics. The researchers passed an electric current over a film of bacteria and in 24 hours killed almost all of a multidrug resistant bacterium that is often present in difficult-to-treat infections. The remaining bacterial population was 1/10,000th of its original size.

The gut microbiota can influence the effectiveness of dietary treatments Why a dietary treatment works for some but not others seems to depend on interactions between the gut microbiota and the diet. A new study shows that people with better control of blood sugar after eating barley kernel bread also have a different balance of microbes in the gut.

Health Research: Early warning found for chronic kidney disease ♦ Gut microbiota regulates antioxidant metabolism ♦ Racial disparities associated with living kidney donation

Gut microbiota regulates antioxidant metabolism Gut microbiota regulates the glutathione and amino acid metabolism of the host. Glutathione is a key antioxidant, found in every cell in our body. Deficiency of glutathione contributes to oxidative stress, which plays a major role in several lifestyle diseases.

Early warning found for chronic kidney disease A simple blood test for the suPAR protein can predict a person's chances of developing chronic kidney disease five years before symptoms emerge, thus doing for kidney disease what cholesterol has done for cardiovascular disease.

Racial disparities associated with living kidney donation assessed Increasing median income levels of transplant candidates' zip codes were associated with higher rates of living donation, but African American candidates living in the wealthiest neighborhoods had only slightly higher rates than rates seen among the lowest median income areas for Caucasians.African-American donors had higher rates of complications early after donation

Gut microbiota changes in diabetic kidney disease contribute to chronic inflammation and vascular complications Among patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), a shift in gut microbiota diversity in combination with elevated plasma zonulin levels substantially impacts the degree of chronic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. Zonulin could be a potential future target to control inflammatory immune responses.

Food Additives Alter Gut Microbes, Cause Diseases

The digestive tract is home to 100 trillion bacteria. Collectively known as the gut microbiota, these bacteria help with metabolism and maintaining a healthy immune system. Changes in this microbial community can cause chronic diseases.

A thick layer of mucus separates gut bacteria from the lining of the intestine. A research team led by Dr. Andrew T. Gewirtz at Georgia State University wondered whether chemicals that disrupt this mucus barrier might alter the gut microbiota and play a role in disorders associated with inflammation, including inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic syndrome.

Dietary emulsifiers are added to many processed foods to improve texture and extend shelf life. Chemically similar to detergents, they have been shown to alter the mucus barrier and the microbes associated with it. To determine whether these might play a role in chronic diseases, the team fed mice low levels of 2 commonly used emulsifiers, carboxymethylcellulose or polysorbate-80, in drinking water or in food.

Mice fed the emulsifiers for 12 weeks developed low-grade intestinal inflammation and metabolic syndrome—a group of conditions that increase the risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Mice that were genetically engineered to be more prone to inflammation and gut microbe changes developed colitis when fed the emulsifiers.

Mice that consumed the emulsifiers had an altered bacterial composition and thinner intestinal mucus, so that bacteria were closer to the cells lining the colon. The mice also had weight gain, increased food consumption, increased fat mass, and impaired glucose handling, a sign of metabolic syndrome.

When the team fed emulsifiers to germ-free mice, which don’t have gut microbiota, the mice showed no signs of gut inflammation, mucus thinning, or metabolic syndrome. This suggests that the effects of the emulsifiers were most likely caused by altering gut bacteria.

When gut microbes from normal, emulsifier-fed mice were transplanted into germ-free mice that hadn’t been fed emulsifiers, the mice developed low grade inflammation, increased fat mass, and glucose intolerance. These results showed that changes in the gut microbiota caused by dietary emulsifiers can drive inflammation and metabolic changes.

“We do not disagree with the commonly held assumption that overeating is a central cause of obesity and metabolic syndrome,” Gewirtz says. But these results suggest that modern additions to the food supply can interact with gut microbiota to influence inflammation, metabolism, and weight.

The group is now testing additional emulsifiers. They are also designing experiments to examine the effects of food additives in humans.