Microbiota Transplantation Normalizes Bile Acids
Clostridium difficile infections, which often arise after antibiotic treatment, can be triggered by changes in colon bile acids. Intestinal bacteria influence the composition of bile acids in the colon, and fecal microbiota transfer (FMT) also treats C. difficile infections. Researchers speculated that there might be a relationship between FMT and bile acids and that FMT might also normalize bile acid composition. By analyzing the bile acids and bile salts in fecal samples before and after FMT, they found that there was a correlation. FMT, during C. difficile treatment, also normalized colon bile acids
Determining Why Microbiota Are Different with Ants
Insects also have gut microbiota, which are often crucial to the health of the insect. In the ant species, Cephalotes varians, 16 bacterial species appear to play core roles in their host’s health. To learn more about microbiota development, the scientists from Drexel University examined the bacteria in ants from different colonies and over the lifetime of ants in a single colony. They found that food was mainly responsible for inter-colony differences in gut microbiota. However, studies within a single colony showed that ant age and genetic makeup also induced changes. Studies like these can clarify the factors that influence the development of gut microbiota.
Probiotics: a Win for Ulcerative Colitis
When multiple studies are published investigating the use of a treatment for a disease, it can be helpful to combine the data from each study to paint a total picture of effectiveness. This is called a “meta-analysis.” Researchers from Shanghai and Chicago recently used this process to look at the effectiveness of probiotics for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), two forms of inflammatory bowel disease. While probiotics appear not to be helpful for Crohn’s disease, they are a success for UC and can significantly maintain remissions. In particular, VSL#3 was good for UC with the condition pouchitis.
References
- Weingarden AR, Chen C, Bobr A, Yao D, Lu Y, Nelson VM et al. Microbiota Transplantation Restores Normal Fecal Bile Acid Composition in Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2013. [Epub ahead of print]
- Hu Y, Lukasik P, Moreau CS, Russell JA. Correlates of gut community composition across an ant species (Cephalotes varians) elucidate causes and consequences of symbiotic variability. Mol Ecol 2013. [Epub ahead of print]
- Shen J, Zuo ZX, Mao AP. Effect of Probiotics on Inducing Remission and Maintaining Therapy in Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, and Pouchitis: Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2013. [Epub ahead of print]