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The Human Intestinal Microbiome in Health and Disease

MeSci

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
Susan V. Lynch, Ph.D., and Oluf Pedersen, M.D., D.M.Sc.

N Engl J Med 2016; 375:2369-2379 December 15, 2016

No mention of ME/CFS in here, but several bits are relevant, or may be.

Human-associated microbes have primarily been viewed through the lens of a single species and its environment. Advances in culture-independent technologies have shown the enormous diversity, functional capacity, and age-associated dynamics of the human microbiome (see the Glossary). A large number of diverse microbial species reside in the distal gastrointestinal tract, and gut microbiota dysbiosis — imbalances in the composition and function of these intestinal microbes — is associated with diseases ranging from localized gastroenterologic disorders to neurologic, respiratory, metabolic, hepatic, and cardiovascular illnesses. Much effort is currently concentrated on exploring potential causality and related microbiota-mediated disease mechanisms, with the hope that an improved understanding will fuel the conception and realization of novel therapeutic and preventive strategies.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1600266
 
Forbin

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
Apparently, changes in the microbiome are seen in some autoimmune diseases, like Chron's disease and chronic ulcerative colitis.

Assuming they are related, I guess my question would be - is autoimmunity altering the microbiome, or can an altered microbiome somehow promote autoimmunity?
 
jepps

jepps

Senior Member
Messages
519
Location
Austria
Forbin said:
Assuming they are related, I guess my question would be - is autoimmunity altering the microbiome, or can an altered microbiome somehow promote autoimmunity?
Click to expand...

It works in two directions: brain and nervs supply the intestine, and the microbes regulate brain and nervs. This means, if brain and nervs (above all the vagus nerv) do not supply stomach and intestine (as well as the lung, heart and kidneys) sufficiently, the intestine is not well supplied with blood, it is chronically inflamed, so pathogens increase.

So improving the microbiome improves nervs and brain, and improving the nervs (above all the vagus nerv) is able to improve the microbiome.
 
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