Variation in Microbiome Composition and Faecal Metabolites Are Associated With Differential Susceptibility to DSS-Induced Colitis.
Till JM, Brock OD, Do EA, Engelhart MJ, Glowacki RWP
Summary
PubMedWhy it matters This matters because the same gut bacteria that influence disease in mice are shaped by diet — including the fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods you grow or eat — making this a window into how your garden's produce might influence gut health.
Scientists noticed that mice from two different suppliers got sick at very different rates when exposed to a chemical that causes gut inflammation. When they housed the more-susceptible mice together with the resistant ones, the resistant mice started getting sicker too — showing the gut bugs were 'contagious.' By analyzing what chemicals those gut bugs produced, the researchers found clues that could one day help predict who is at risk for gut inflammation before it starts.
chevron_right Technical Details
Researchers found that gut bacteria differences between two mouse populations predict how severely they develop a condition similar to inflammatory bowel disease. Certain gut bacterial byproducts (metabolites) were linked to either protection from or susceptibility to gut inflammation.
Key Findings
Mice from Charles River labs had higher levels of a specific immune cell type (Th17) and gut antibodies, making them more susceptible to chemically induced colitis than Jackson lab mice.
Co-housing susceptible and resistant mice transferred increased disease susceptibility, directly implicating the microbiome as the driver rather than genetics.
Targeted metabolomics identified specific gut bacterial metabolites that were either positively or negatively correlated with colitis severity, suggesting biomarker potential.
Abstract Preview
Variation in microbiome composition is linked to differences in intestinal immune phenotypes and can be leveraged to identify microbiome-driven contributions to phenotypes of interest. Furthermore,...
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