Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental condition that affects how humans communicate, learn new things and behave. Symptoms of ASD can include difficulties in interacting with others and adapting ...
The pain of invasive skin infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and possibly other serious, painful infections, appear to be induced by the invading bacteria themselves, and not by the body's immune ...
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People who are infected with chlamydia can transmit these bacteria to other people during unprotected sex. The pathogens usually cause no symptoms, or only mild symptoms at first, such as itching in the vagina, penis or anus. ...
Aug 23, 2024
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A low-fiber "Western diet" causes damage to the protective mucus barrier in the gut, and such damage can increase the risk of inflammation and infection. By studying the gut bacteria of people who increased their intake of ...
Apr 29, 2024
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The notion that diet and health are inextricably linked is hardly novel. For millennia, people have known that poor nutrition is responsible for many health problems. But the precise mechanisms that explain just how diet ...
Jun 28, 2023
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Probiotics can help maintain a healthy gut microbiome or restore populations of "good bacteria" after a heavy course of antibiotics. But now, they could also be used as an effective treatment strategy for certain intestinal ...
Jun 21, 2023
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Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), one of the most common forms of dementia, has no cure. Previous studies suggested that gut bacteria, the microorganisms that live in the human digestive tract, play a role in Parkinson's disease, ...
Mar 1, 2023
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New research from the University of Copenhagen suggests that a portion of the Danish population has a composition of gut microbes that, on average, extracts more energy from food than do the microbes in the guts of their ...
Dec 27, 2022
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Humans have just as many microbes in their microbiota as there are cells in the body, and most of these are in the large intestine (colon). They are an important part of our "digestion" because they can harvest energy from ...
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Zhengzheng Shi and colleagues at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) in Japan report the effects of a common herbal remedy on colitis, one of two conditions that comprise inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). ...
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The gut flora consists of the microorganisms that normally live in the digestive tract of animals. The gut flora includes much of the human flora. The term "gut flora" is interchangeable with intestinal microflora and intestinal microbiota.
The average human body, consisting of about 1013 (10,000,000,000,000 or about ten trillion) cells, has about ten times that number of microorganisms in the intestines. The metabolic activity performed by these bacteria is equal to that of a virtual organ causing some to describe the gut bacteria as a "forgotten" organ.
Bacteria make up most of the flora in the colon and 60% of the dry mass of feces. Somewhere between 300 and 1000 different species live in the gut, with most estimates at about 500. However, it is probable that 99% of the bacteria come from about 30 or 40 species. Fungi and protozoa also make up a part of the gut flora, but little is known about their activities.
Research suggests that the relationship between gut flora and humans is not merely commensal (a non-harmful coexistence), but rather is a mutualistic, symbiotic relationship. Though people can survive with no gut flora, the microorganisms perform a host of useful functions, such as fermenting unused energy substrates, training the immune system, preventing growth of harmful species, regulating the development of the gut, producing vitamins for the host (such as biotin and vitamin K), and producing hormones to direct the host to store fats. However, in certain conditions, some species are thought to be capable of causing disease by producing infection or increasing cancer risk for the host.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
