What's Causing My Gut Symptoms?
Melissa G. Hunt, Aaron T. Beck in Reclaim Your Life From IBS, 2022
The final unintended consequence of the war on germs is that we may well be killing off the very bacteria that we need to thrive. This is the most challenging part for most Westerners to accept, but we actually live symbiotically with trillions of bacteria in our own bodies. In fact, our bodies are composed of about ten foreign microorganisms for every one human cell, and the vast majority of them live in the gut. Collectively known as “gut flora,” these microorganisms play a vital role in helping us digest our food, keeping pathogenic bacteria in check, educating the immune system, and reducing inflammation. Keeping these friendly bacterial populations healthy and in the right balance turns out to be crucial for overall and digestive health. Scientists have raised mice from birth in completely sterile environments. Their guts are pristine – no bacteria at all. And the mice are a mess. They’re puny, weak, and can’t digest food properly at all. At least some cases of IBS may be the result of dramatic imbalances in the ecosystem of the gut flora, also known as dysbiosis. This helps explain why some people go on to develop post-infectious IBS, especially if they’ve been treated with vigorous regimens of broad-spectrum antibiotics.
Impact of Different Exposures, Including Environmental Enteropathies, on Gut Flora and Integrity
Crystal D. Karakochuk, Kyly C. Whitfield, Tim J. Green, Klaus Kraemer in The Biology of the First 1,000 Days, 2017
The gut flora plays an important role in many body functions. Environmental enteropathy remains one of the most important, and challenging, conditions to impact the gut flora in low-income countries, proving to be a particular challenge in infants and children with developing immunity and increased susceptibility to infection. This is an added burden in countries struggling with malnutrition, repeated infection, HIV, and poor environmental conditions. Although we have described various factors that impact gut flora composition, and possibly function, the exact pathophysiology of these pathways remain largely unknown. Without an understanding of the metabolic and pathologic pathways, and the presence of some consensus on ideal biomarker or a combination of biomarkers to assess the different aspects of gut function (e.g., inflammation, absorption, permeability) and developmental outcomes, designing successful interventions seems like an unachievable task.
The gastrointestinal tract
Simon R. Knowles, Laurie Keefer, Antonina A. Mikocka-Walus in Psychogastroenterology for Adults, 2019
The relationship between the gut microbiota and its human host is believed to be symbiotic [7]. In other words, each derives benefits from the other. The bacteria benefit by having a host where they live and receive an abundant supply of nutrients, while, in return, the human host benefits from nutrition via the microbiota’s fermentation of undigested food products and production of some vitamins. In addition to this, by competing for space and nutrients, the gut microbiota protect the human host from potentially harmful bacteria. The term ‘dysbiosis’ refers to the imbalance between beneficial and harmful bacteria. This change to the gut microbiota has been associated with disease states, including autoimmune diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, and obesity. The role of the gut microbiota in health and disease is still the subject of ongoing scientific research, and efforts are currently under way to assess whether gut microbiota can be manipulated for therapeutic benefit. See Chapter 5 for more information regarding the brain-gut-microbiome (BGM) axis.
Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Exercise Mediated by Toll-Like Receptor Regulation in Innate Immune Cells – A Review
Published in International Reviews of Immunology, 2020
Nicolas Collao, Isabel Rada, Marc Francaux, Louise Deldicque, Hermann Zbinden-Foncea
The modification of gut microbiota has emerged as a new factor by which exercise may promote beneficial health effects [90]. The gut microbiota is a set of microorganisms living throughout the gastrointestinal tract of mammals, and which increase in number and diversity from the stomach to the colon. It has been estimated that human microbiota consists of 1014 cells (10 times the total number of cells in the human body) [91]. Changes in microbiota composition have been associated with obesity as obese individuals have different and altered gut microbiota composition compared to lean individuals [92]. The microbiota also impacts host immune status and dysbiosis-related inflammation can augment insulin resistance, independently of obesity [93]. It has recently been shown that gut bacteria can initiate the inflammatory state of obesity and insulin resistance through the activity of LPS [94].
Biofilm-based delivery approaches and specific enrichment strategies of probiotics in the human gut
Published in Gut Microbes, 2022
Jie Gao, Faizan Ahmed Sadiq, Yixin Zheng, Jinrong Zhao, Guoqing He, Yaxin Sang
Human body harbors trillions of diverse microorganisms (bacteria, protozoa, archaea, eukaryotes, and viruses), which reside on and within different parts of the body including the gut, skin and vagina. The human gastrointestinal tract contains the largest number and diversity of the known species repertoire of the human gut microbiota (> 70% of the human microbiota: 1013 to 1014), termed “gut microbiome” 1. A stable gut microbial community of the host plays a key role in host’s innate and adaptive immune system,2 metabolism, and health.3 Disruptions in the gut microbiota may occur owing to antibiotic use, changes in lifestyle, dietary habits, infection, or ageing, which lead to variegated pathogenic, metabolic, and inflammatory conditions. Today, there is almost no disease which has no relevance with the human gut microbiota. From intestinal bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis),4 cancer,5 hypertension,6 and diabetes 7 to mental health including anxiety and depression 8 and metabolic syndrome and atopy.9
Zhizhu decoction alleviates slow transit constipation by regulating aryl hydrocarbon receptor through gut microbiota
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2023
Yong Wen, Yu Zhan, Shiyu Tang, Fang Liu, Rong Wu, Pengfei Kong, Qian Li, Xuegui Tang
Numerous studies have shown that chronic constipation leads to an imbalance of gut microbiota, with a relative decrease in certain bacteria and a relative increase in potentially disease-causing microbes (Ohkusa et al. 2019). The gut microbiome has become a key regulator of intestinal tissue physiology (Shi et al. 2017). The disruption of the gut microbiome interferes with endogenous metabolites (Hyland and Cryan 2016), resulting in reduced excitability of intestinal neurons, altered motor procedures, and prolonged intestinal transfer time (Yoo and Mazmanian 2017). In addition, a recent study has shown that transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), as a biosensor of the intestinal neural network, can sense the microbial environment in the intestinal cavity, participate in maintaining the excitability of intestinal neurons and regulate the intestinal physiological functions (Obata et al. 2020). The gut microbiome regulating AHR signaling pathway is closely related to STC, which may be a potential target for STC treatment.