Bacteria in Cars
Awareness that local environments have their own special populations of bacteria is growing. Because many of us spend time in cars, Rachel Stephenson of the University of Michigan sought to identify the bacterial species belonging to the “car microbiota.” While the majority of bacteria found in the cars varied widely from car to car, she found that Staphylococcus bacteria were nearly always present. The three main species retrieved were S. epidermidis, S. aureus and S. warnerii, which under certain circumstances can be pathogenic. She found that silver-based coatings on steering wheels were a potential way to control bacteria build-up.
Breast Milk Antibodies and Bacteria
Breast milk, besides providing optimal nutrition for growing babies, also provides many factors that help baby’s immune defenses. One factor that breast milk contains is immunoglobulin (IgA) antibodies, which are found normally in the digestive tract. Dr. Eric W. Rogier considered that breast milk IgA might control intestinal bacteria populations. To test this, he orchestrated an experiment where newborn mice received milk without IgA and compared their intestinal microbiota to newborns getting milk with IgA. The loss of IgA led to long-lasting effects on the microbiota populations and ultimately changed the expression of genes associated with immune function in way that increased inflammation.
Lactobacilli for the Treatment of Allergy
Previous studies indicate that probiotics could be beneficial for the prevention of allergy in children. To learn more about the use of probiotics for the treatment of allergic rhinitis in adults, Dr. D.J. Costa of the University of Medicine in Montpellier, France gave adults Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei LP-33 for five weeks along with normal allergy medication in a randomized, controlled double-blind study. The patients with probiotics reported a significantly increased quality of life score and reductions in eye symptoms.
References
- Stephenson RE, Gutierrez D, Peters C, Nichols M, Boles BR. Elucidation of bacteria found in car interiors and strategies to reduce the presence of potential pathogens. Biofouling 2014. [Epub ahead of print]
- Rogier EW, Frantz AL, Bruno ME, Wedlund L, Cohen DA, Stromberg AJ et al. Secretory antibodies in breast milk promote long-term intestinal homeostasis by regulating the gut microbiota and host gene expression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111(8): 3074-3079.
- Costa DJ, Marteau P, Amouyal M, Poulsen LK, Hamelmann E, Cazaubiel M et al. Efficacy and safety of the probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei LP-33 in allergic rhinitis: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (GA2LEN Study). Eur J Clin Nutr 2014. [Epub ahead of print]