Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that affects more than 4 million people worldwide
In a recent study from Weill Cornell Medicine, scientists found a type of gut bacteria that causes intestinal inflammation in patients with Crohn’s disease.
They showed that patients with Crohn’s disease have an overabundance of a type of gut bacteria called adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC), which promotes inflammation in the intestine.
Their experiments found that a metabolite produced by the bacteria interacts with immune system cells in the lining of the intestine, triggering inflammation.
Interfering with this process, by either reducing the bacteria’s food supply or eliminating a key enzyme in the process relieved gut inflammation in Crohn’s disease.
The discovery may lead to more targeted therapies for the difficult-to-treat disease.
In the study, researchers targeted a process the AIEC bacteria uses to convert a byproduct of sugar fermentation in the gut to grow.
Specifically, the AIEC uses a byproduct of the breakdown of a type of sugar called fucose that is found in the lining of the intestines.
The team showed the bacteria interacts with a type of immune system cell called mononuclear phagocytes , which sets off a cascade of inflammation.
Next, they genetically engineered AIEC bacteria to lack a key enzyme in this process.
They found that the bacteria do not set off a cascade of inflammation in a mouse model of Crohn’s disease.
Reducing the available supply of fucose in the animal’s gut also reduced inflammation.
The finding shows that changing one metabolic pathway in one type of bacteria can have a big impact on intestinal inflammation.
The discovery could lead to better treatments for Crohn’s disease.
Currently, patients with Crohn’s disease are often treated with antibiotics, which can kill both beneficial and harmful bacteria causing unwanted side effects.
But treatments that precisely target the inflammatory cascade discovered by the current study might help reduce inflammation while preserving beneficial bacteria.
If you care about inflammation, please read studies that Vitamin D deficiency may increase death risk, and vitamin B may help fight COVID-19 and reduce inflammation.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about new way to halt excessive inflammation, and results showing this diet may help reduce inflammation in COVID-19.
The study was published in Cell Host and Microbe and conducted by Dr. Randy Longman et al.
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