After generations of mice had grown up with these microbiomes, the internal physical differences became striking. Pull out small intestine, large intestine and cecum (which is part of the digestive tract), and you will see that the germ-free mouse has an enlarged cecum that is much darker. This might be because it has had to expand in an effort to extract enough nutrients without a healthy normal gut flora. In the small intestine mice usually have nine to 12 lymph nodes, which can be seen as small bumps where immune cells, such as B and T cells, congregate. In the normal mice the lymph nodes were easily visible, but in the germ-free mice each was tiny and difficult to see indicating they had poorly developed immune systems. Likewise, the mice with rat microbiota had immature immune systems.
"This paper shows that different species do different things to their host," says June Round, an assistant professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, who was not involved in the new study. "The host probably has specialized receptors" for specific microbe species that cue certain systemic reactions in the host body. But researchers are still looking to find what those might be.
Cleanliness next to illness?
The new findings do not provide a definitive yes or no for the hygiene hypothesis, which says that a lack of exposure to germs at a young age can lead to poorer health later in life. But, Chung says, "we think it can add another dimension to the hygiene hypothesis: it's not just exposure to any bacteria; it's exposure to the right bacteria." The rise in immune-related diseases might be sparked because "we're missing the right ones, the good ones," she says of the human-specific microbes.
Another recent report, put out by the Human Microbiome Project earlier this month, shows that our microbiomes are unique not just to us as a species but most likely to us as individual humans. A survey of microorganisms from 15 to 18 sites on 242 healthy adults found that there were vastly different populations.
A study by Chung's co-author Kasper showed that mice that were raised germ-free could have their immune systems "rescued" by certain microbes up to the first several weeks of age. Whether or not this is true for humans remains to be seen. Current literature suggests that in human babies the gut microbiome undergoes many transitions between birth and about age three.
The intimate role of microbiota in the immune system might also have implications for vaccine efficacy. Many childhood vaccines used in the U.S. and Europe sometimes are not as effective for children in developing countries. So anything that affects the microbiome, be it poor nutrition, toxins or parasites, might also be influencing how well the immune system develops
The findings also have implications for microbiome studies in the lab. "So many of us as researchers use the mouse to model human disease," Round says. Looking over the whole animal kingdom, broadly speaking, scientists see that "the mouse and humans have very similar microbiotas," she says, but the findings are crucial in showing a functional difference in these microbe communities. Researchers will need to be aware that mice are not having the same reaction to a human-evolved species.
Work in mice will, of course, continue. Round is looking at specific species of microbes and how they influence the host individually—and how the host is shaping the microbes that are there. "I think we're just on the cusp of figuring this out," she says. And that could be a boon to personalized medicine.
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3 Comments
Add CommentDoes this article lend any credence to the idea that human breast fed babies have fewer autoimmune deseases?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's amazing what a 6 year old knows. I constantly told my mother she was killing me with how clean she demanded I be!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf the total answer is lack of cleanliness, why would we need to avoid dirty water and cat litter on our veggie gardens? I really find the wingnuts who decry cleanliness stupid. Asthma is the result of dirty air in the city and cockroach feces, etc. Grow up and find the truth not the hype repeated over and over. My kids had the house in the city cleaned daily with bleach but we ate natural or organic foods and natural yogurt. When we traveled in town to the Art Museum and Franklin Institute I fed them apples with the skins to provide pectin to inhibit the lead from the gas engines and cheese for the calcium not McDonald's hamburgers. Grow up, dugdung brain.
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