31 May, 2006
Implantation of Bacteroides assisted by Methanobrevibacter smithii.
(This was sent to me by Kevin and it could have significant implications for attempts to implant Bacteroides, which normally makes up 30-50% of the bacteria in the bowel and which seems to have a controlling role. It has been shown to be able to displace Clostridium dificile, a major cause of post-antibiotic diarrhoea.)
Please see:http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060522/full/060522-19.htmlA recent study in mice has highlighted the importance of methanogenic bacteria in the intestines for efficient digestion of food. The mouse model system used is rather artificial, but could have implications for obesity.Samuel Buck of Washington University in St Louis, Missouri presented the results at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in Orlando, and will publish them shortly in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Paraphrasing from the article:"The researchers took mice that had been grown in a sterile environment, with no microbes in their guts, and injected them with a very common strain of human intestinal bacteria, called Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Some of the mice also received a dose of of Methanobrevibacter smithii, which is effectively a waste-removal bug. M. smithii acts by clearing waste products and hydrogen produced by other bacteria, and so helps other gut bacteria digest some of the fibrous components of food that we cannot, and turn them into material that our bodies can use. Without these bugs, waste accumulates and blocks the activity of other gut bacteria.About 100 times more microorganisms took up residence in the colon of mice injected with both B. theta and M. smithii than in those injected with B. theta alone. This suggests that the presence of waste-removing M. smithii was somehow helping other bacteria to thrive. The researchers found that mice with a hefty dose of M. smithii in their guts are fatter than those that don't have the bacteria".
(This was sent to me by Kevin and it could have significant implications for attempts to implant Bacteroides, which normally makes up 30-50% of the bacteria in the bowel and which seems to have a controlling role. It has been shown to be able to displace Clostridium dificile, a major cause of post-antibiotic diarrhoea.)
Please see:http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060522/full/060522-19.htmlA recent study in mice has highlighted the importance of methanogenic bacteria in the intestines for efficient digestion of food. The mouse model system used is rather artificial, but could have implications for obesity.Samuel Buck of Washington University in St Louis, Missouri presented the results at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in Orlando, and will publish them shortly in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Paraphrasing from the article:"The researchers took mice that had been grown in a sterile environment, with no microbes in their guts, and injected them with a very common strain of human intestinal bacteria, called Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Some of the mice also received a dose of of Methanobrevibacter smithii, which is effectively a waste-removal bug. M. smithii acts by clearing waste products and hydrogen produced by other bacteria, and so helps other gut bacteria digest some of the fibrous components of food that we cannot, and turn them into material that our bodies can use. Without these bugs, waste accumulates and blocks the activity of other gut bacteria.About 100 times more microorganisms took up residence in the colon of mice injected with both B. theta and M. smithii than in those injected with B. theta alone. This suggests that the presence of waste-removing M. smithii was somehow helping other bacteria to thrive. The researchers found that mice with a hefty dose of M. smithii in their guts are fatter than those that don't have the bacteria".
