Washington Washington, June 16 (The Conversation) Microbiome research The experience to date has been similar to the story of the blind men and the elephant. How much can be said about an elephant by examining only its tail? Researchers have studied the most readily available material – faeces left after a toilet flush – but they have not been able to identify the mastermind of the microorganisms at the top. small intestine. until recently.
In the upper intestine, different Microorganism populations Help with this too Digestion, metabolism And even immunity.
I am a gastroenterologist who has spent the last 20 years studying the role of the microbiome in health and disease. Advances in technology are helping scientists investigate the small intestine microbiome and its potential to better understand and treat many diseases.
Big changes come from small places
Some members of the small intestine microbiome are associated with obesity and overweight, while other microbial members are associated with a healthy metabolic state. Indeed, small intestine microorganisms aid digestion by transforming some simple carbohydrates into the molecular building blocks of a healthy intestine and body.
While functioning similarly to the colon, small intestine metabolites can be quite different from the fiber-derived metabolites of the large intestine microbiome. Some small intestine metabolites help regulate the upper intestine’s production of GIP, a sister molecule of the lower intestine hormone GLP-1, which makes up the weight loss and type 2 diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. Along with another lower intestine hormone called PYY, this trinity is key to coordinating your body’s response to food by regulating your appetite and blood sugar.
Monjaro is a progressively more potent combination of GIP and GLP-1 than Wegovy and Ozempic. The full amount of these hormones is naturally stimulated by the breakdown of products from both the large and small intestinal microbiome.
Research has found that disturbances in the small intestine microbiome are associated with a number of gut diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), Crohn’s disease, and celiac disease.
These diseases are thought to arise in part from disturbances in the way the microbiome breaks down food. For example, celiac disease is associated with a reduced ability of the small intestine microbiome to digest gluten. IBS and SIBO are associated with the opposite: the ability of the small intestine microbiome to ferment fiber and sugars too easily.
Foods that are high in FODMAPs (a group of fermentable short-chain carbohydrates), such as wheat, garlic, onions, beans and some processed products, have been shown to contribute to symptoms in individuals with SIBO and IBS. Lactose-rich dairy is a high FODMAP food group that is involved in lactose intolerance and is linked to an overzealous small intestine microbiome.
Diseases linked to the small intestine microbiome are not just limited to metabolism and the gut. The intestinal lining houses a virtual embassy of immune cells that are always on alert, surveying the diverse stream of microbial and nutritional antigens that pass through your gut.
Compromises in the protective systems that separate feces from the rest of the body and the processes that keep immune responses in check play a role in triggering a variety of diseases. Autoimmune Conditions In which the body gets confused as to who is friend and who is enemy.
Studies have linked inflammatory changes in the small intestine microbiome to type 1 diabetes, where the body’s circulating immune cells attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, and also to extra-intestinal symptoms of celiac disease, where immune cells can lead to destructive processes in the body’s eyes, skin and joints.
Until recently, research on the small intestine has progressed at a slow pace. Scientists relied on upper endoscopy procedures, which involve giving anesthesia and inserting a tiny camera at the end of a short tube through the mouth into the first part of the small intestine.
One of the few alternatives to endoscopy is to study patients who have undergone intestinal surgery, in which direct accesses are created to their small intestine through a hole in their abdominal wall.
Newly developed techniques are eliminating the need for sedation and unique physical conditions by allowing scientists to sample the most distant parts of the intestine. Such techniques include camera capsules attached to angel-hair-thin filaments and other more streamlined instruments that create minimally invasive direct lines of access to the small intestine. Researchers have also developed capsules with sample compartments that open when a certain acidity level is reached in the body.
These new sampling techniques have opened up unprecedented access to the upper gut, paving the way for new insights and treatments. In a real-life parallel to the childhood favorite, “The Magic School Bus, Inside the Human Body,” researchers can now ride through the gut like Ms. Frizzle and her class, and shed light on the microbial mysteries hidden inside.
Treatments based on early understanding of the gut microbiome have included approaches ranging from probiotics to fecal transplants and prebiotics to fermented foods.
but new treatments for Gut health These are still in their early days. Studying the small intestine may provide insights to improve therapeutic development. Some promising future possibilities include pairing small intestine bacteria with their preferred prebiotics and personalized combinations of low-FODMAP prebiotics designed to avoid small intestine fermentation.
Treatments that combine food and the microbiome are perhaps the first signs of what’s to come in the rapidly developing field of microbiome medicine. Researching the small intestine – and not just the small intestine – could be the first step toward microbiome medicine. (The Conversation) RUP
poop-has-been-an-easy-target-for-microbiome-research-but-voyages-into-the-small-intestine-shed-new-light-on-ways-to-improve-gut-health-et-healthworld
