Perhaps the most well-known disease-causing gut organism is the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which can trigger peptic ulcer. In the past few years, scientists have linked obesity to the relative abundance of two dominant intestinal bacterial phyla and found that dysfunctional intestinal bacteria are associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease and some types of cancer. Nicholson even speculates that the organisms could play a role in neurological disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Tourette’s syndrome and autism. “We have some evidence now that shows that if you mess around with the gut microbes, you mess around with brain chemistry in major ways,” Nicholson remarks. He currently collaborates with microbiologists to match metabolites with specific bacteria—there are thought to be 1,000 species and more than 10 trillion bacterial cells inside us at any given time.
This identification process has only recently become possible. Although scientists have been able to extract gut bacteria from fecal samples for many years, it has been next to impossible to culture the samples afterward because they survive only in highly acidic, oxygen-free environments. Thanks to new DNA-sequencing technologies, scientists can now identify gut bacteria fairly easily, and there is growing interest in doing so: the National Institutes of Health launched its Human Microbiome Project last December with the goal of fully characterizing the human gut flora.
Once investigators can correlate metabolites with health, it may one day be possible, Nicholson says, to make urine sticks similar to those used in pregnancy tests to regularly check the fitness of our gut flora. Some companies have already begun selling food products to help keep these populations in line—with live beneficial bacteria (probiotics) or compounds that help these species grow (prebiotics), or combinations of the two (synbiotics). Unfortunately, these medications typically fall into the category of “functional foods,” which means they are rarely tested in clinical trials. One exception is VSL #3, a combination of eight bacterial species sold in packet form by the Gaithersburg, Md.–based VSL Pharmaceuticals. In double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, the colonies effectively treated ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.
Many possibilities exist for bug-based drugs, and there is a strong need for them, Nicholson maintains. According to a study published by scientists at the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, the human genome offers only about 3,000 potential drug targets, because just a subset of genes produces proteins that can be bound and modified by druglike molecules. But “there are 100 times as many genes in the microbial pool,” says Nicholson, who regularly works with drug companies to better elucidate how people metabolize medicines. He is “one of a few academics I’ve met who’s interested in the pharmaceutical industry for its problems rather than just for its cash,” comments Ian Wilson, a scientist working in England for the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Wilson adds that Nicholson is always full of potential solutions, referring to him as “a bubbling mass of ideas.”
Because genes provide only limited information about a person’s risk for disease, Nicholson dreams of a time when physicians can provide personalized health care on the metabolome. Simple blood or urine tests would detect the risk of cancer or heart disease early enough to begin preventive therapy; drugs would be tailored to each person’s metabolic profile—and in many cases, they would not target our organs but our bacteria. “It opens up visions of a future that we would never have suspected even a few years ago,” Nicholson says. “Many microbiologists might argue this is fanciful, but you only make huge progress in science by thinking almost the unthinkable.”
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6 Comments
Add CommentThere has long been speculation and some evidence about the gut/brain connection but Jeremy Nicholson's work removes all doubt. Fantastic! A ray of hope for so many.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs someone suffering from Fructose Malabsorption Disorder (which affects blood levels of serotonin, melotonin, etc), I am thrilled that more attention is being paid to how fundamentally our gut bacteria is connected to our health.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI look forward to more news on this front!
Jeremy Nicholson is on a very important mission. Thus far Glen Ellyn Pharmacy is using synbiotic therapy (Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 630-469-5200) in connection with some 103 health conditions identified with gug microorganism imbalances. They cover almost all of the body systems. Our knowledge has come from Dave Sullivan a bacteriologist from U of Wisc, Kelly Karpa Pharmacist PhD and professor Penn State Medical School, Gary Huffnagle PhD professor U of Michigan medical school, and Roby Mitchell Physician on yeast overgrowth in the gut. Our pharmacy has helped over 2,000 patients in 13 years with these conditions. Bob Listecki Pharmacist 630-469-5200.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA subject I haven't heard too much about. It raises the topic "which came first, problems with the brain, or problems with the gut". Have they got seperate causes as well as a sometimes common cause i.e. the gut.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA pediatrition friend of ours mentioned that he always recommends taking a pro-biotic when an anti-biotic is required. My husband had numerous bouts of diverticulities and his physicians always prescribed anti-biotics, which totally knocked him out. I purchased the strongest pro-biotic I could find at a health food store and have been giving it to him regularly.He has not had another bout since I started this regemine two years ago in spite of many other health issues.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder if gut bacteria may consume or destroy some dilute free form nutrients (such as free amino acids) in food eaten like in fully ripe fruits and before we can absorb such free form nutrients, or possibly there may be rare nutrients of anabolic value to our cells but that may became catabolised/denatured by gut bacteria before our cells get a chance to use such nutrients? I suspect that human gut bacteria has adapted to process civilized/processed cooked foods unlike other wild animals in nature , but if humans were to evolve/adapt to a BALANCED raw fruit diet (but mainly based on wild species of high nutrient/high protein /low sugar fruits, - and not the high sugar commercially grown fruits) then perhaps ALMOST all that gut bacteria would be unnecessary, - I wonder? Finally, I have a question- is the bulk of the gut bacteria that is so common in modern man there because our immune system invited it there because we lack enzymes to fully digest ingested protoplasm based foods? (unlike ripened fruits that have undergone programmed cell death, - see fruit SENESCENCE)
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