Considering the findings from the conference yesterday bracketing CFS as an inflammatory disorder, I have decided to share the following article linking inflammation with bacteria:
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Meconium microbiome analysis identifies bacteria correlated with premature birth.
Authors
Ardissone AN, et al.
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Journal
PLoS One. 2014 Mar 10;9(3):e90784. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090784.
Affiliation
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is the second leading cause of death in children under the age of five years worldwide, but the etiology of many cases remains enigmatic. The dogma that the fetus resides in a sterile environment is being challenged by recent findings and the question has arisen whether microbes that colonize the fetus may be related to preterm birth. It has been posited that meconium reflects the in-utero microbial environment. In this study, correlations between fetal intestinal bacteria from meconium and gestational age were examined in order to suggest underlying mechanisms that may contribute to preterm birth.
METHODS: Meconium from 52 infants ranging in gestational age from 23 to 41 weeks was collected, the DNA extracted, and 16S rRNA analysis performed. Resulting taxa of microbes were correlated to clinical variables and also compared to previous studies of amniotic fluid and other human microbiome niches.
FINDINGS: Increased detection of bacterial 16S rRNA in meconium of infants of <33 weeks gestational age was observed. Approximately 61·1% of reads sequenced were classified to genera that have been reported in amniotic fluid. Gestational age had the largest influence on microbial community structure (R = 0·161; p = 0·029), while mode of delivery (C-section versus vaginal delivery) had an effect as well (R = 0·100; p = 0·044). Enterobacter, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Photorhabdus, and Tannerella, were negatively correlated with gestational age and have been reported to incite inflammatory responses, suggesting a causative role in premature birth.
INTERPRETATION: This provides the first evidence to support the hypothesis that the fetal intestinal microbiome derived from swallowed amniotic fluid may be involved in the inflammatory response that leads to premature birth.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24614698/?i=2&from=bacteria fetus
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Bacteria infects humans earlier than previously thought, triggering inflammation.
Would also like to point out 2 findings revealed at the conference:
-PWCFS have delta waves whilst awake, in comparison to controls that have them during sleep only
-Gene comparison show CFS to be most closely linked to an inflammatory disorder, followed by parasitic and bacterial infection.
Delta waves whilst awake is no surprise considering how disconnected from our surroundings we feel.
Gene comparison showed very interesting results. Most closely linked to inflammatory disorder which points us to a trigger and followed closely by parasitic and bacterial infections which have comparable genes to PWCFS.
Everything consistently points at a chronic inflammatory state in PWCFS. Triggered and maintained by a bacterial infection.