The Community Of Micro Organisms Within A Host Individuals Gastrointestinal Tract

Studies have shown that gut microbiota is involved in the regulation of many brain functions, such as:

The article “Some of My Best Friends are Germs,” by Michael Pollen was a very interesting and informative read. Pollen explains that our bodies house 100s of trillions of microbes. More than 99 percent of our genetic information is microbial. The large number of bacteria that inhabits us weighs many pounds, forming a massive, unexplored world that scientists are just starting to document. These bacteria affect our health as much as if not more than the genes we receive from our parents.

The first group that was dropped into the water was the group of mice that did not have lactobacillus, when dropped into water they began to swim for a couple minutes but gave up after. The group with the lactobacillus was also dropped into the water and had the same start swimming but that group half of mice never gave up they just kept on swimming. The scientists figured out that items we eat do affect how our brain acts most of the time. The link between the intestinal microbes and he brain at that these could send signals to the brain and affect how the brain itself reacts to certain situations. Based on the studies discussed on the podcast the intestines also have roles in our psychological wellbeing, like in the studies the French did with the lactobacillus as well but on human being. Persons that had ingested the lactobacillus felt less stressed while the group that did not take the lactobacillus felt stressed. The podcast also talked about how this might be implemented in the future to treat patients with mental illness. This could me in a form of a “medicinal yogurt” or even medication. I thought this part of the podcast was interesting because most people including me don’t think that the “gut” can have any impact on a human beings mental health but this section

The study intended to look at the gut microbiome that is naturally present within the gut. The research team of the Louisiana State University designed an experiment with lab rats to predict how the manipulation of the gut microbiome with a high fat diet would affect their brain

The human gut microbiota has become the subject of researches in recent years and our knowledge of the resident species and their potential functional capacity is rapidly growing. Our gut harbors a complex community of over 100 trillion microbial cells. Therefore, our gut microbiota evolves with us and plays a pivotal role in human health and disease. This has clear effects on physiologic, immunologic, and metabolic processes in human health, aberrations in the gut microbiome and intestinal homeostasis have the capacity for multisystem effects. Changes in microbial composition are implicated in the increasing for a broad range of inflammatory diseases, such as allergic disease, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), obesity, and associated

Physiological books—specifically those about the gut microbiota and the importance of the digestive system—took up the most rows in my mental library due to the fact that I can use their knowledge to positively impact countless lives, starting with the ones closest to home. I grew up allergic to pollen, dust, peanuts, oatmeal, and even penicillin. My mother has an issue with Helicobacter pylori in her stomach and cholesterol levels. My father is genetically predisposed towards high blood pressure. Through these books, I gained a better understanding of the biological human; specifically, I learned about how central the digestive system is to the body, not only by providing nutrients but also, through its resident bacteria, by regulating immune function. Through learning more about this expansive mass, I can help my loved ones change their lifestyle and dietary habits to improve their

A number of studies, predominantly conducted in mice, have established a link between gut microbiota and obesity and have documented that a change in gut bacteria can have an effect on body weight. A 2004 study by Bäckhed et al. study was one of the earliest studies done on this topic and provided some of the first evidence that gut microbiota may play a role in energy balance and subsequently obesity.6 Conventionally raised mice were fed a polysaccharide rich diet and gained 40% more weight than germ-free mice fed the same diet.6 When gut bacteria from the conventionally raised mice was transplanted into the germ-free mice, the germ-free mice experienced a 60% weight gain in 2 weeks despite reduced food intake.6 Researchers attribute the weight

The diversity of microbes that each of us hosts is as individual as a fingerprint and yet easily transformed by diet and our

A microbiome is a community of microorganism that exist in a certain environment. Looking at gut microbiomes in particular, it has long been established that gut microbiome varies drastically from individual to individual due to differences in diet, genetic factors and environment. The organisms that exist in a gut microbiome within a certain organism plays many roles, such as aiding with food digestion, gut barrier function and wound recovery. While diet has been believed to play a large factor in internal microbiome composition, we do not have the evidence to support this fully. Thus using non-human model organisms could help address the question at hand by altering diets and looking at subsequent microbiomes. In this case, we used black

Recent studies have identified gut microbiota as a contributing factor to the pathophysiology of obesity. Gut microbiota originates from the maternal vaginal tract at birth and colonizes the GI tract of the infant.[3] Thus, as an infant, the mother’s diet greatly influences microbiota composition via her breast milk or formula milk.

Our immune system and digestive health are fully dependant on a healthy and balanced gut microbiota; it provides an important source of a whole range of vitamins, in particular vitamins B and K. (Hill, 1997). Although our gut microbiota is known to contain tens of trillions of microorganisms, our gastrointestinal tract was sterile at birth with its bacterial colonisation process beginning during and shortly after delivery. The type of bacteria found in the gut microbiota of infants can almost entirely be attributed to how the infant is fed (Fuller & Perdigon, 2003). Research has shown that there are significant differences in the gut microbiota of breast-fed and formula-fed infants with breast-fed infants experiencing fewer gastrointestinal problems and being less prone to infections (Stark & Lee, 1982; Benno et al., 1984 cited in Fuller & Perdigon,

Finally, in the article “The gut microbiota influences blood-brain barrier permeability in mice”, the authors posit that gut microbiota directly influence the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of mice as early as gestation, and continue to impact its effectiveness throughout the mouse’s lifespan. Mice without germs had increased BBB permeability, while those with healthy gut flora had a stronger BBB that continued to have a dependability that was propagated throughout their lives.

For every eukaryotic cell in the human body, scientists estimate that there are about ten prokaryotic cells present, which means that more than half of what makes up the human body is 30-40 trillion bacteria and archaea. Recent research suggests that this diverse microbiota is both directly and indirectly responsible for human mental and physical health. As the human body develops, so does the microbe flora. Lactobacillus acidophilus (L acidophilus), L. fermentum, L. plantarum, and L. rhanosus are just some of the dangerous sounding bacteria that are not just beneficial but essential to proper human health. All of these helpful strains of bacteria are given the common name of probiotics. Scientists are just now beginning to understand the immense effect of the gut bacteria in human everyday lives and they, very well, may find that through manipulation of probiotics, any disease could potentially be inhibited/cured.

In addition to epigenetic changes, the body’s internal ecological environment can be altered through modifying the make-up of microbiota in the gut. Recent evidence has suggested that gut microbiota are heavily involved in the control of body weight, energy homeostasis and fat conversation; all playing a role in the pathophysiology of obesity. One study (Goffredo & Santoro et al., 2016) drew conclusions from examining gut

Microscopic studies of the human body have found that microbial cells greatly outnumber somatic cells with National Institutes of Health estimating the figure to be around 90%; these either being bacterial, fungal or otherwise non-human. Even though DNA sequencing techniques have allowed scientists to analyse the structures components and functions of some of these normal microbiota, a large fraction of them still remain unstudied and so therefore we have not yet understood the full extent as to the influence that they have on our physiology and development thus how effective our immunity and nutrition is.