By now, you know I love our belly bugs! In my recent blog, I discussed the topic of multiple sclerosis (MS) and how coffee and nutrient deficiencies affect it’s manifestation and that both are related to the balance of the microbiome.
This blog is a quick research update on the same theme from my homepage focusing on how H. pylori links MS and the microbiome.
An article from Medical News Today reported on findings the British Medical Journal:
The results of the analysis revealed that women who did not have MS were significantly more likely to be infected with H. pylori than women with MS, suggesting the bacterium may have a protective effect against the condition.
This association, however, was not found in men. In fact, men infected with the bacterium were more likely to have MS. (5)
The Gut-Bug Connection
H .pylori is a normal resident of the stomach. Overgrowth or undergrowth can cause maldigestion, gastric ulcers, or stomach cancer. Interesting, males are twice as likely to develop gastric cancer than females, so another immune deregulation may be at play with this gender. Specifically, inflammation in the gut can cause modulation of inflammatory mediators in the stomach and change signaling processes in the microbiota.
In fact, a study in Gut Microbiome reports that changes in H.pylori may affect changes in the gastrointestinal tract in the lower bowel:
The discovery of Helicobacter pylori overturned the conventional dogma that the stomach was a sterile organ and that pH values < 4 were capable of sterilizing the stomach. H. pylori are an etiological agent associated with gastritis, hypochlorhydria, duodenal ulcers, and gastric cancer. It is now appreciated that the human stomach supports a bacterial community with possibly 100s of bacterial species that influence stomach homeostasis. Other bacteria colonizing the stomach may also influence H. pylori-associated gastric pathogenesis by creating reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and modulating inflammatory responses. In this review, we summarize the available literature concerning the gastric microbiota in humans, mice, and Mongolian gerbils. We also discuss the gastric perturbations, many involving H. pylori, that facilitate the colonization by bacteria from other compartments of the gastrointestinal tract, and identify risk factors known to affect gastric homeostasis that contribute to changes in the microbiota. (6)
Therefore, treat your belly bugs right and they will treat you to a healthy balanced life.
References:
For a list of references, please see my homepage.