The gut microbiome has a relationship to depression and hypertension, as repeatedly reported by the American Heart Association. Bruce R. Stevens and his team from Gainesville, Florida found that the composition of the gut microbiome differs according to the nature of the disease. Based on a clever cluster analysis using artificial intelligence, they divided the microbiome of the monitored subjects into four groups with distinctive and mutually different compositions. And according to the microbiome composition, their sample fell into four distinct diagnostic groups: patients suffering from hypertension, patients suffering from depression, patients suffering from a combination of both diseases, and healthy individuals. On that occasion, it is worth recalling an older consideration that the aforementioned diseases running in families and considered genetically conditioned may have their possibly more significant etiopathogenetic component in transmitted lifestyle and dietary habits.
A somewhat older study reports differences in microbiome composition found in older hypertensive patients with reduced and normal physical capacity. In those who were worse off, fewer representatives of Betaproteobacteria, Faecalibacterium and Ruminococcae were found, while more pathogenic Escherichia coli, which produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, were found.
That depression occurs five times more often in hypertensive patients than in the rest of the population with normal blood pressure has been known for at least 45 years (at least that's when I first read it). But the fact that this combination may have some common, probably etiopathogenetically significant, yet specific factors is a new finding that opens the way to searching for new treatment approaches.
The same team a year ago published their findings that increased intestinal wall permeability accompanied by increased concentration of lipopolysaccharides in plasma is associated with clinical anxiety and depression.
If microbes are related to depression and anxiety, what relationship do they have to aggression, Nicole Kirchoff from the University of Oregon asked herself, and together with other brave souls analyzed the gut microbiome of 21 mean and aggressive pit bulls and ten of their friendly companions of the same breed and found that aggressive dogs have significantly more lactobacilli.
The latest issue of Vesmír publishes František Vyskočil's guide on how to become a marathon runner. It is enough to have a sufficient amount of bacteria of the genus Veillonella, which can fight lactic acid – the substance that causes muscle fatigue. These hardworking bacteria multiplied in the intestines of 87 Olympic athletes during a demanding marathon run, but only one of them can convert lactate into propionic acid, which is a source of energy for the body. It is Veillonella atypica, which is also the only one that can increase the performance of a mouse when transplanted into its intestine. Whether the first winner, Spyridon Louis, had this bacterium in his intestines, the author does not state.
Japanese authors examined 128 female patients visiting the memory improvement clinic of the National Geriatric Center, aged between 69–82 years. In the group, 34 women suffering from dementia were diagnosed. Demented patients had a typical occurrence of enterobiome III with an insufficient number of the genus Bacteroides, and this correlation was much tighter than other findings predicting dementia. As follows from the work of bacteriologists in Seattle (WA, USA), these bacteria are important, among other things, in balancing the antagonism between the rich microbial population.
Scientists from George Washington University found in the intestines of patients suffering from colorectal cancer a mutated protein CEACAM, which blocks the growth of new cells and which is associated with the occurrence of certain bacterial species involved in tumor growth.
In addition, there is also a positive report that regular consumption of dried plums improves the composition of the gut microbiome in the distal large colon, by increasing the number of Bacteroidetes and decreasing the amount of Firmicutes, which has a protective effect.
Similarly, walnuts help. A nutrition team from Connecticut demonstrated that mice whose diet contained 7–10% walnuts had fewer intestinal tumors. Walnuts work better in the organism of mice, where they reduced the incidence two to three times compared to mice fed a typical American diet.
While Darwin postulated that the fittest survive, in bacteria it seems that the friendliest survive. The latest research from bacteriologists in Copenhagen suggests that those species whose members can "refrain" when it is in the interest of the whole are more successful. Those that cooperate are able to form a bacterial film that protects them together and allows even the weaker ones to grow.
Microbiologists' interest has also focused on the situation in a spacecraft, where conditions are different than in a ventilated room on Earth. There is microgravity, radiation, a greater amount of carbon dioxide in a confined space, where there are additionally up to six people. Compared to a clean laboratory environment or a ventilated room, researchers found more Actinomycetes, which are potentially pathogenic and should be taken into account during longer stays. Furthermore, it seems that microgravity does not suit some species. For the most part, microbes behave similarly to natural conditions. Only one type grows 60% faster than on Earth, namely Bacillus safensis, as researchers found in the MERCCURI project, in which they sent 48 species of microbes into space. The said bacillus belongs to Firmicutes, is assumed to have thirteen strains, and in nature it helps plant growth. We have probably also transported it from Earth to Mars, because it is very resistant to radiation.
Astronauts simply board a spacecraft and have no idea that bacteria go with them. Some of them are pathogenic, others can become pathogenic as a result of different conditions. Therefore, scientists have developed a completely new system to prevent the overgrowth of potential pathogens. Covering surfaces with a new compound - AGXX®, which contains silver and ruthenium together with derivatives of certain vitamins, which destroys all types of bacteria, as well as certain fungi, yeasts and viruses. The effects are similar to bleaching effects - in addition, the coating regenerates itself, so it is practically always active and should serve as protection also against today's already resistant gram-positive pathogenic strains.
The depletion of essential bacteria in the gut microbiome based on our hygiene and dietary habits was noted by scientists comparing the microbiome of Ötzi, who lived 5300 years ago. This concerns in particular a bacterium called Prevotella copri, very useful in both digestive and immune processes. Originally it colonized the intestine in four strains, today only one of them occurs in Europeans.
MUDr. Radkin Honzák psychiatrist Author's blog: http://blog.aktualne.cz/blogy/radkin-honzak.php
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