The gut microbiome is home to billions microorganisms, which have been shown to have a dramatic impact on many aspects of human health. Some disorders and conditions, such as lupus, diabetes, and the effectiveness of chemotherapy, have been linked in various ways to the gut microbiome; this also suggests that it could be possible to treat some disorders or improve the efficacy of some drugs by altering the gut microbiome. Fecal transplants, for example, have already been shown to be useful in the treatment of some gut infections. But one problem with bacterial therapeutics, or probiotics that can boost the levels of beneficial bacteria, is that it is extremely difficult to get them to the gut, alive, where they can take up residence and promote better health.
In new research, however, scientists have found a way to modify a gut microbe so that it's easier to move it to the gastrointestinal tract. Most gut microbes don't need oxygen to survive; they live in an anaerobic environment, and oxygen can actually be extremely harmful to these microbes. Many strains of gut bacteria die within seconds of exposure to the air. This new study has shown that it's possible to create probiotics that can tolerate oxygen, and could be used to help treat prediabetes. The work has been reported in Nature.
In this work, scientists from a company that develops probiotics, BioGaia AB, and colleagues at the University of Gothenburg modified an anti-inflammatory gut bacterium called Faecalibacterium prausnitzii to make it more oxygen tolerant. Studies have shown that the levels of this microbe are unusually low in patients with conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The researchers cultured Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and another bacterium called Desulfovibrio piger, which is known to boost the growth and aid the function of F. prausnitzii. By raising the bacteria is electrochemical environments, some strains of F. prausnitzii were 'trained' to be more oxygen-tolerant. Then these microbes were identified and isolated.
"By combining a naturally occurring symbiosis with training of the bacteria, we have established a new strategy for producing otherwise oxygen-sensitive bacteria as live biotherapeutic products, which could prevent diseases when these bacteria are reduced in number," said senior study author Professor Fredrik Bäckhed.
The investigators grew both bacteria together, and found that the growth of the microbes and the generation of an anti-inflammatory molecule called butyrate was increased, noted first study author Muhammad Tanweer Khan, a researcher in the Bäckhed lab. "This will enable us to increase the production yield, and to potentially increase butyrate production in the future."
The work also suggested that these bacteria are safe to consume together. Next, the investigators will have to determine whether these microbes can improve the regulation of blood sugar in people with prediabetes.
"We have high hopes," noted Bäckhed. "Further studies will show if we are correct in our hypothesis that gut bacteria have the potential to improve our health."
Sources: University of Gothenburg, Nature
