Dr. Damian Jacob Sendler knows the importance of knowing the latest health research news. The intestinal microbiome can cause changes in patients’ response to chemotherapy, according to research conducted by scientists from the University of Virginia and published in the journal Nature Communications.
Our diet is crucial for the composition of the intestinal microbiome. We feed not only ourselves but also over a thousand microorganisms that inhabit our intestines. What we serve them can affect our health and the effectiveness of the drugs we use.
During nematode research, scientists observed that microbiome modifications caused by ingested food could increase the toxicity of chemotherapy drugs by up to 100 times. A dose that has a neutral effect on nematodes on a control diet becomes lethal when serine (an endogenous amino acid) is added to food.
“We have established for the first time that a change in the microbiome or the addition of a single amino acid to the menu can change a harmless dose of a drug into a highly toxic one. Any change in the menu can, therefore, affect how the body responds to chemotherapy, “says research researcher Eyleen O’Rourke.
These data are essential for determining the right dose of drugs and better controlling the side effects of chemotherapy. They also explain the differences in the reactions of individual patients who have long wondered about doctors – the author’s comment.
Contact with bacteria that regulate the immune system during pregnancy is conducive to the neurological development of the offspring, reducing the likelihood of autism-like symptoms, ” reads ‘Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.’
It is known that stress during pregnancy causes in humans and animals a generalized inflammation of the body, which negatively affects the health of both mother and fetus. It may also increase your child’s risk of developing symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorders.
In a rat study, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder (USA) showed that the administration of pregnant rat Mycobacterium vaccae soil bacteria that relieve inflammation in the brain could counteract this effect.
Researchers have already demonstrated that stressed and receiving terbutaline rats (a drug used to delay delivery) gave birth to young people with social deficits and repetitive (repetitive) behavior, i.e., autism-like symptoms as well as seizures (epilepsy).
In the latest study, specialists administered heat-treated M. vaccae bacteria to stressed and terbutaline females. It happened in the third trimester of pregnancy (if you look at it from a human perspective). When the young were born, scientists began testing on them to assess the quality of social functioning and propensity for repetitive behavior. It turned out that rats, whose mothers did not receive “good” bacteria, showed symptoms resembling autism. In turn, those whose mothers had contact with M. vaccae were free of this type of symptoms.
“It seems that immunization with M. vaccae provided some protection during development against the negative effects of environmental stressors, especially against behaviors resembling autism spectrum disorder (ASD),” says Zachariah Smith, one of the authors of the work.
However, M. vaccae did not protect against epileptic seizures, although the researchers say that with prolonged use, they could have beneficial effects in this regard. This will probably be checked in further studies.
University of Colorado employees stipulate that their intervention is not an “autism-vaccine,” and there is no evidence that it eliminates the disorder in children who already have it. However, the results suggest that M. vaccae supports the development of the nervous system and can be used in the future as a preventive measure in women exposed to the birth of a child with neurodevelopmental disorders.
“This is the first intervention in mothers that I know about – which has the potential to prevent the autism-like syndrome, including behavioral and social aspects. If this procedure could be repeated in humans, it would be significant, “comments another researcher Dr. Christopher Lowry.
For now, mothers should be aware of the threat of stress and terbutaline during pregnancy and try to counteract it by exposure to beneficial bacteria by consuming fermented products, e.g., yogurt or sauerkraut, and spending time in nature – experts advise.
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