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Altered gut microbiome could indicate Parkinson’s disease

Even on standardized diet, gut flora changes from day to day

OBES

gut

HOW THE GUT INFLUENCES NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES

Researchers examine the role gut bacteria plays in the development of neurological disorders. Using mouse models of multiple sclerosis, researchers found compounds generated from the breakdown of tryptophan can cross the blood-brain barrier and activate anti-inflammatory pathways that limit neurodegeneration. Activation of these pathway have also been linked to Alzheimer’s and brain cancers. READ MORE…

Household cleaners may contribute to obesity in kids by altering the gut microbiome

Exercise may improve health by increasing gut bacterial diversity

This shows a drawing of bacteria

GUT BACTERIA INFLUENCE AUTISM-LIKE BEHAVIORS IN MICE

Using germ-free mouse models, researchers transplanted fecal bacteria from children on the autism spectrum and neurotypical children. Mice who received the transplants from the ASD cohort began to exhibit autism-like behaviors, whereas the mice who received transplants from typically developing children did not. Additionally, the mice showed altered gene expression in their brains and differences in types of metabolites present. In particular, the ASD mice had lower levels of 5AV and taurine. Findings suggest gut microbiota regulates autism-like behaviors via the production of neuroactive metabolites, providing further evidence for the gut-brain axis connection to the pathology of autism. READ MORE…
This shows slides from the study

HOW STRESSED-OUT GUT BACTERIA MAY TRIGGER AUTOIMMUNE RESPONSE

Chronic social stress in mice induces the expression of virulent genes in the gut microbiota. The altered microbiota increases the presence of effector T helper cells in the lymph nodes and induces myelin autoreactive cells. Exposure to chronic stress, therefore, may increase the risk of developing autoimmune diseases for some individuals with a susceptibility. READ MORE…

Gut microbes associated with temperament traits in children

This shows bacteria

GUT MICROBES PROTECT AGAINST NEUROLOGIC DAMAGE FROM VIRAL INFECTIONS

A healthy and diverse microbiome is essential for quickly clearing viral infections in the nervous system to prevent risks associated with multiple sclerosis. Mice with lower gut bacteria had weaker immune responses and were unable to eliminate viruses, leading to worsening paralysis. Those treated with antibiotics before infection had fewer microglia.  READ MORE…
intestinal bacteria

GUT MICROBES FROM HEALTHY INFANTS BLOCK MILK ALLERGY DEVELOPMENT: MOUSE STUDY

Researchers report infants who are allergic to cow milk have a different composition of gut microbes than those who are not allergic to the milk. Transplanting gut microbes from those with no allergies helped to protect against potentially life threatening reactions. The study suggests gut microbes impact the host’s immune system and play a critical role in regulating allergic responses to food. READ MORE…

Mom’s gut parasites protect babies from inflammation

This is a diagram of the viral proteins

COAT OF PROTEINS MAKES VIRUSES MORE INFECTIOUS AND LINKS THEM TO ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) interact with biological fluids, creating a coat of proteins around the viral surface. This results in the viruses becoming more infectious and can contribute to the formation of amyloid plaques. In animal models, researchers found these viruses can bind to amyloid proteins, which aggregate into plaques that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. HSV-1 is able to accelerate the transformation of soluble amyloid proteins into amyloid plaques. READ MORE…
Image shows lung cell inflammation.

NERVOUS SYSTEM PUTS THE BRAKES ON INFLAMMATION

A new study reveals ILC2 cells in the nervous system can halt immune response to infections that cause inflammation. READ MORE…
Image shows parasite.

SEVERITY OF PARASITE’S VIRULENCE DEPENDS ON WHAT TIME OF DAY INFECTION OCCURS

The immune response varies greatly, depending on the time of day a parasitic infection occurs, a new study reports. Researchers note infections that occur early at night were more successful as this is a time when the immune response is strongest. Parasitic infection thrives when it is able to elicit a strong immune response. READ MORE…
Image shows an old medicine bottle

CENTURY OLD DRUG COULD HELP TREAT AUTISM SYMPTOMS

According to researchers, a century old drug originally developed to treat African sleeping sickness shows promise for treating symptoms of autism. READ MORE…
Image shows a dna.

ANCIENT DNA CAN BOTH DIMINISH AND DEFEND MODERN MINDS

A new study raises the question of whether a genetic mutation associated with neurodegeneration in one environment could act in a positive way in a different setting. READ MORE…
Image shows dividing T. gondii parasites.

TOXOPLASMA PARASITE ALTERS HOST’S PERSONALITY AND BRAIN BEHAVIOR

Researchers discover how T.gondii can change the behavior and personality of its host. The findings could lead to a vaccine for Toxoplasma infection. READ MORE…

Long term effect of stress, gut bacteria and fiber

How fiber and gut bacteria reverse stress damage – Medical News Today

 

 

Get the facts about memory loss » · Longlasting grief when close friends pass …. The brain has a direct effect on the stomach and intestines. … Therefore, a person’s stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or … performance that requires short bursts of muscle activity, such as sprinting.

Effects of Psychological, Environmental and Physical Stressors on the …

 

 

Jump to Stressors and the Gut Microbiota – Severe or chronic stress can exceed the adaptive … to gut microbes, and to the myriad effects of different …

Stress and Your Gut – Gastrointestinal Society

 

 

Studies highlight lasting effects of early life stress on the genome, gut …

 

 

Nov 4, 2018 – Excessive stress during fetal development or early childhood can have longterm consequences for the brain, from increasing the … Stress before or during pregnancy can alter gut bacteria in women and mice, which in the …

Stress Effects on the Body – American Psychological Association

 

 

Stress Effects on the Body: Gastrointestinal

 

 

Chronic stress – Chris Kresser

 

 

How Stress Affects Your Gut Health (and Vice Versa!) – Hyperbiotics

 

 

The enemy within: Gut bacteria drive autoimmune disease

The gut–hormone connection: how gut organisms impact estrogen levels

Emerging research demonstrates that the gut microbiome assumes a central job in the regulation of estrogen levels inside the body and in this manner impacts the danger of creating estrogen-related sicknesses, for example, endometriosis, polycystic ovary disorder, bosom disease, and prostate cancer.

Scientific research has shown that gut microorganisms manage numerous parts of human physiology, including intestinal penetrability, the ingestion of supplements from sustenance, and resistance. In any case, recent studies recommend that gut organisms assume another crucial job in the human body by regulating circulating estrogen levels.

The estrobolome is the collection of microbes equipped for using estrogens. The estrobolome adjusts the enterohepatic course of estrogens and influences flowing and discharged estrogen levels. Microorganisms in the estrobolome produce beta-glucuronidase, a protein that deconjugates estrogens into their dynamic structures. Beta-glucuronidase movement produces dynamic, unbound estrogen that is fit for official to estrogen receptors and impacting estrogen-dependent physiological procedures.

At the point when the gut microbiome is healthy, the estrobolome delivers only the appropriate measure of beta-glucuronidase to keep up estrogen homeostasis. In any case, when gut dysbiosis is available, beta-glucuronidase action might be changed. This produces either a lack or an abundance of free estrogen, subsequently advancing the improvement of estrogen-related pathologies.

Gut Dysbiosis Is Connected to Estrogen-Related Diseases

Estrogen assumes numerous crucial roles in the human body. It controls fat deposition and adipocyte differentation, female reproductive function, cardiovascular health, bone turnover, and cell replication. Gut dysbiosis can possibly modify the estrobolome, upset estrogen homeostasis, and weaken these procedures, promoting the improvement of chronic diseases.

Weight, Cardiovascular Disease, and Osteoporosis

In postmenopausal women, estrobolome interruption is related with an expanded risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Estrogens control glucose and lipid metabolism, adipocyte differentation, bone development, and the inflammatory reaction in atherosclerosis. Research shows that the typical decreases in estrogen that happen at menopause hinder these estrogen-dependent procedures, triggering obesity, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis.

Gut dysbiosis resulting decreased beta-glucuronidase movement may exarcerbate the low-estrogen state in postmenopausal ladies, further expanding the risk of these chronic diseases.

Endometriosis

Endometriosis, an estrogen-driven condition described by the development of endometrial tissue outside the uterus, has been related with gut dysbiosis. The estrobolome of women with endometriosis may have bigger numbers of beta-glucuronidase-producing bactera, prompting increased levels of circling estrogen, which drives endometriosis.

PCOS

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may also be affected by estrobolome disruption. Ladies with PCOS have an excess of androgens in connection to estrogen, just as an adjusted gut microbiota. Analysts estimate that the changed gut microbiota in PCOS women may promote increased androgen biosynthesis and dicreased estrogen levels through lowered beta-glucuronidase activity.

Probiotics Can Restore a Healthy Estrogen Balance

Research demonstrates that it might be possible to modulate the estrobolome and turn around estrogen-related pathologies through probiotic supplementation.

 

  • Supplementation with an broad range Lactobacillus probiotic has been found to standardize the estrous cycle and decrease testosterone biosynthesis in a animal model of PCOS.
  • In an animal model of endometriosis, Lactobacillus gasseri prevented ectopic tissue development, which is an estrogen-driven procedure.
  • In a menopausal mouse model of osteoporosis, Lactobacillus reuteri anticipated bone misfortune coming about because of low estrogen.
  • Lactobacilli have anticarcinogenic effects in breast tissue, proposing that supplementation might be helpful for the prevention of breast cancer.

While research on the connection between probiotic supplementation and the estrobolome is still in its earliest stages, this shouldn’t prevent professionals from prescribing probiotics to their patients with estrogen-related conditions. Switching dysbiosis gives off an impression of being key for adjusting the estrobolome, and probiotic supplementation is a generally simple and cheap approach to achieve this.

 

Source: https://kresserinstitute.com/gut-hormone-connection-gut-microbes-influence-estrogen-levels/?fbclid=IwAR1ilEPNVSMR3bxlXHQtWONX5VHJTMZcEas4eKn408CiLfpTnO-d49gnsDU

Helminth immunomodulation in autoimmune disease

Helminths have advanced to progress toward becoming specialists at subverting immune surveillance. Through potent and persistent immune tempering, helminths can stay undetected in human tissues for a long length of time.

Diverting the immunomodulating “abilities” of helminths to treat inflammatory human diseases is getting intensive intrigue. Here, we survey treatments using live parasitic worms, worm emissions, and worm-derived synthetic atoms to treat immune system illness.

We survey helminth treatment in both mouse models and clinical trials and talk about what is known on systems of activity. We additionally feature momentum advance in portraying promising new immunomodulatory particles found in excretory/secretory results of helminths and their potential use as immunotherapies for acute and chronic inflammatory diseases.

With the collecting worldwide weight of autoimmune disease, helminths have happened to elevated scientific interest because of their ability to activate immunoregulatory circuits and control immunity. There is solid proof in mouse models that helminthic treatment, ES components, and helminth-derived synthetic atoms can treat as well as prevent inflammatory disease, for example, IBD, T1D, MS, RA, and asthma. Up to this point, human trials in celiac disease, UC, Cd, MS, RA, and psoriasis have set up that treatment is safe with some proof of therapeutic effect. Be that as it may, brings the first wave of human trials are not as striking as mouse disease models.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5401880/?fbclid=IwAR1bGfnLErNY9ZRJfjPZBdJ73dkIKxBIXMGrUeHoJqY6ZOx1f01CbJ-PWTU

Common parasite uncovers key cause of Crohn’s disease

Immune systems have their sinister side, especially when they have not learned how hard to fight. Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases inflict more than a million Americans with debilitating pain and digestive unrest because of uncontrolled immune responses in the gut.

How this happens remained a mystery until immunologists at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine caught a key culprit in Crohn’s disease: a cell from our own immune forces. With unconventional help from a common parasite, Eric Denkers, professor of immunology, and research associate Charlotte Egan identified a renegade cell responsible for this largely arcane and increasingly prevalent illness.

“Auto-immune diseases are on the rise in this country but their causes have remained largely unknown,” said Denkers. “It’s possible that these diseases are more common in the West because we’re too clean. Exposure to germs trains immune systems how to respond to threats. Early protection from germs may contribute to the increasing prevalence of immune system overreactions in our population, leading to auto-immune problems like allergies and inflammatory bowel disease.”

Similar symptoms arise when some hosts first face the prevalent protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Denkers’ lab studies this parasite’s arsenal of host-manipulating powers, but recently they have steered Toxoplasma research in an entirely new direction.

“We noticed that the initial intestinal inflammation these parasites can cause looks very similar to what happens during Crohn’s disease,” said Denkers, one of the first to study this connection. “Our lab has started using Toxoplasma to model Crohn’s disease in humans and help us find the pivotal perpetrator, which has turned out to be a cell from our own immune forces.”

Specialized immune cells called intraepithelial lymphocytes patrol intestinal walls. Upon encountering invaders, they release messenger proteins that call more immune cells to the battleground. “Too many messenger proteins recruit too many immune cells, causing inflammation that can devastate the host’s own tissue,” Denkers explained. “Bad balance between good bacteria, bad bacteria, and immune interactions like inflammation cause Crohn’s disease.”

“For the first time we’ve discovered how infection can turn these immune cells pathogenic, stimulating them to cause disease, inflammation and necrosis in the small intestine,” said Denkers. “This marks a major leap toward understanding human Crohn’s disease. Unveiling this kind of immunological interplay may lead to improved prevention and care in an array of auto-immune diseases.”

Denkers and colleagues published their discovery in Mucosal Immunology, followed by a review article discussing Toxoplasma infection as a model for Crohn’s disease in the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology in 2010.

Carly Hodes is a communications specialist in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Source: https://bit.ly/2GMZKjY

Patients Resorting to ‘Worm Therapy’ to Treat Autoimmune Diseases

Ingesting worms to treat diseases like multiple sclerosis isn’t sanctioned by the FDA, but some researchers and patients say it’s a legitimate treatment.

Eating worms used to be a childhood taunt.

But early research shows that parasitic worms could have an unexpected benefit.

They could be a promising treatment for autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s, are on the rise in developed countries.

At least 23 million Americans have these diseases, where the body attacks its own tissues.

“Worm therapy” does not yet have government approval, but some people aren’t waiting. They’re beginning to self-administer cures using these worms.

So far, some experts say, they’re reporting some promising results.

Why worms may work

Some researchers are already sold on the idea.

Take William Parker, PhD, an associate professor of surgery at Duke University School of Medicine.

He’s spent years studying parasitic worm therapies. He sees the worms more like vitamins that the immune system needs to be healthy.

“Many immune diseases are episodic,” Parker told Healthline. “And worms work well on them. If I had to bet the farm on this treatment, I would.”

Although it may sound creepy, using parasitic worms like hookworms or pig whipworm to treat autoimmune diseases does have some basis in science, too.

Parker said the worms, also known as helminths, can travel to the gut and ease inflammation — perhaps by changing the mix of bacteria there.

With autoimmune diseases, the body cranks out too much of one type of white blood cell that creates this inflammation.

So far, some studies are encouraging.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin reported

ositive results when volunteers were asked to ingest pig whipworm eggs as a way to help heal multiple sclerosis.

And Dr. Joel Weinstock, now a professor at Tufts Medical School, concluded that pig whipworm seemed to help inflammatory bowel disease.

Body needs more biodiversity

Parker believes that the idea behind this odd treatment is sound.

Called hygiene hypothesis, a term coined in the late 1980s, the theory is that when children aren’t exposed to infectious agents or parasites, the development of the immune system is affected.

Humans have lost a lot of biodiversity in their bodies with the rise of clean water and food processing, according to Parker.

“It’s very conclusive that our systems are missing this stuff,” he said. “They need biodiversity to function well so the body can start healing itself.”

He added that the alteration of our bodies’ ecosystems is similar to what’s happening to the earth’s ecosystems, too.

But people treating themselves with parasitic worms can stop the progression of multiple sclerosis, he said.

“Like with exercising, the body gets better,” he stated. “Science says it works. Social networks say it works.”

Meanwhile, the list of what can be treated with these parasitic worms is pretty long, according to John Hawdon, PhD. Hawdon is the vice president of the American Society of Parasitologists and a researcher at George Washington University.

There’s evidence that it may work for celiac disease, Hawdon told Healthline, and it may work to treat other chronic illnesses, too.

“I’m optimistic that some diseases may get some relief using parasitic worms,” said Hawdon, who calls worm therapy an intriguing possibility. “They can calm inflammation.”

Problems with worm therapy

As with any new therapy, there are issues.

The worms haven’t been approved for medical use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

That means they aren’t available in the United States.

They must be imported from the United Kingdom or Thailand, said Parker.

And without government regulations, quality can vary.

“The most inexpensive worms, especially hookworms, have the most side effects,” Parker warned. “Taking too many can trigger adverse reactions.”

Also, worm treatment is only temporary.

People who treat their diseases must ingest the worms every two weeks.

“So people will end up taking them for the rest of their lives,” Hawdon said.

Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, sees worm therapy as outright dangerous.

“The only things speaking on its behalf are very small studies,” he told Healthline. “Giving people worms belongs in the trash bin.”

He would rather cherry-pick the worm molecules that create the anti-inflammatory effect and turn them into medication.

“You could develop new therapies with them,” he said, “and create new approaches.”

“At one time, people also thought bacteria was bad,” countered Parker. “Now we know there’s a complex ecosystem. It’s about coming back into balance.”

Source: https://bit.ly/2yABDAO

Tapeworms are adult parasites of the class Cestoda, and they live in the intestine of their hosts

This environment seems very harsh to us, being acidic and full of digestive enzymes. However, like any good parasite, tapeworms are well adapted not only to survive this environment but use it to their benefit.

It is worth noting that tapeworms have no digestive canal of their own; they have to take up nutrients across their surface. The type of cells present and the structure of the tapeworm surface both reflect the ability to absorb nutrients this way. For example, the surface area of the tapeworm is greatly increased by its formation into numerous projections, (similar to the microvilli of mucosal epithelial cells).

There are a number of factors that keep the tapeworm from being digested in the intestinal environment. These include:

A distinct outer surface, manufactured by the worm, which is replaced continuously with a turnover time of approximately 6 hours.
Absorption of host enzymes at the outer surface of the tapeworm.
Direct inhibition of the activity of host digestive enzymes.
To explain these points a little further:
The fast turnover time of the outer membrane of the tapeworms is likely part of the tapeworms’ defences against attack by host digestive enzymes since a “new coat” is being continually produced.

Apart from its own enzymes, which can be found on the surface of the tapeworm and are used to break down molecules into forms that can be absorbed, (e.g. glucose, other sugars, nucleosides, etc.), certain host enzymes have also been found adsorbed to the worm surface. For example, the host enzyme alpha-amylase absorbs to the surface of the worm, and is used to break down starch.

Other host enzymes, such as trypsin and chymotrypsin, with which you may be familiar, are actually inactivated at the surface of the worm.

So, in effect, the tapeworm can avoid digestion by hijacking some host digestive enzymes, and inactivating others.

Amazingly, the immediate environment of a tapeworm in the host intestine is quite uniform despite the intake and digestion of food periodically.

Parasitic worms may prevent Crohn’s disease by altering bacterial balance

The parasitic worms that lurk in some people’s intestines may be revolting, but they seem to forestall Crohn’s disease and other types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A new study might explain how, revealing that the worms enable beneficial microbes in the intestines to outcompete bacteria that promote inflammation. The results could lead to new ways of treating gut diseases by mimicking the effects of the parasites.

“It’s a beautifully done paper,” says immunologist Joel Weinstock of Tufts University in Boston, who wasn’t connected to the work. “It had not been previously shown that one of the mechanisms [of IBD] is through changes in the intestinal flora.”

In people with IBD, inflammation in the digestive tract results in symptoms such as diarrhea and bleeding and can sometimes lead to intestinal obstructions or other severe complications. Because parasitic worms, or helminths, can be harmful, they appear to be unlikely allies against these diseases. “They are called parasites for a reason,” says immunologist Ken Cadwell of the New York University School of Medicine in New York City, a co-author on the new study. However, IBD is rare in parts of the world where helminths are prevalent, and it is surging in more developed countries, where few people now carry the intestinal intruders. That difference suggests, researchers say, that they are protective.

To determine how the worms could be our frenemies, Cadwell and colleagues tested mice with the same genetic defect found in many people with Crohn’s disease. Mucus-secreting cells in the intestines malfunction in the animals, reducing the amount of mucus that protects the gut lining from harmful bacteria. Researchers have also detected a change in the rodents’ microbiome, the natural microbial community in their guts. The abundance of one microbe, an inflammation-inducing bacterium in the Bacteroides group, soars in the mice with the genetic defect.

The researchers found that feeding the rodents one type of intestinal worm restored their mucus-producing cells to normal. At the same time, levels of two inflammation indicators declined in the animals’ intestines. In addition, the bacterial lineup in the rodents’ guts shifted, the team reports online today in ScienceBacteroides’s numbers plunged, whereas the prevalence of species in a different microbial group, the Clostridiales, increased. A second species of worm also triggers similar changes in the mice’s intestines, the team confirmed.

To check whether helminths cause the same effects in people, the scientists compared two populations in Malaysia: urbanites living in Kuala Lumpur, who harbor few intestinal parasites, and members of an indigenous group, the Orang Asli, who live in a rural area where the worms are rife. A type of Bacteroides, the proinflammatory microbes, predominated in the residents of Kuala Lumpur. It was rarer among the Orang Asli, where a member of the Clostridiales group was plentiful. Treating the Orang Asli with drugs to kill their intestinal worms reversed this pattern, favoring Bacteroides species over Clostridiales species, the team documented.

Cadwell and colleagues also asked whether Clostridiales and Bacteroides microbes were at odds in other people. They analyzed two sets of data on the frequencies of different intestinal microbes, which include results for healthy U.S. residents and kids in North America who have IBD. They saw the same relationship—when Clostridiales species are up, Bacteroides varieties are down, and vice versa.

The study’s findings suggest that parasitic worms deliver their benefits indirectly through their impact on the microbial mixture in the intestines. Worms are “having an anti-inflammatory effect by kicking out something that is inflammatory,” Cadwell says. Members of the Clostridiales group may get a boost when worms are around, he says, because the intestines produce more mucus, which the bacteria feast on.

“This is a good proof of concept,” says immunologist Gabriel Nunez of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who wasn’t connected to the research. It supports “the principle that some of these diseases may be related to changes in the microbiome.” But he cautions that researchers still need direct evidence that Bacteroides species are responsible for Crohn’s disease.

Turning the results into a treatment for IBD could be difficult. Two recent clinical trials of helminth treatment for Crohn’s disease, in which participants drank a solution containing the worms’ eggs, stopped early because the results were disappointing. These studies may not be the last word, however. Cadwell says that worm therapy might work in the roughly 30% of Crohn’s patients who have the same genetic flaw as the mice. And Weinstock notes that if researchers can determine how the parasites trigger the shift in microbe composition, “we may be able to bypass the worms and develop a small molecule drug to get the effect in a safe way.”

 

Source: https://bit.ly/2M0qqCm