Revolution – Microorganisms
I feel like we are all well aware of the incredible,
influential, and crucial role that microorganisms play not only in the everyday
activities of an ecosystem, but also within and on our bodies. Yes, we have
microflora in our gut and an infinite number of microbes crawling all over our
skin. However, new research published in the journal Nature has found bacteria that actually influence the physiology of
our sensory system by causing nocireceptors to fire off. Furthermore, these
bacteria can also elicit signals to trigger increased inflammation, and further
pain (Chiu et. al 2013). Slowly, but surely, microorganisms are taking over our
entire bodies!
Ok, they aren’t really, but maybe.. Either way, the physiological
mechanisms that a Staphyloccocus aureus
can manipulate, as demonstrated by the group of researchers, is incredible. S. aureus is a very common microbe that
is infamous for causing things such as necrotizing fasciitis and extremely
painful abscesses. By measuring heat and mechanical hyperalgesia
(sensitiveness), the researchers used mice, of the hindpaw variety, to test
their theories of S. aureus and found
that the toxin alpha-heamolysin and the secretory N-formyl peptides can actually cause a change in the calcium
flux within a nocireceptor of a sensory cell (Chiu et. al 2013). Therefore,
triggering an action potential and informing the mouse of his pain and
suffering. Wait, what? So, bacteria can get into my body, troll around,
accidentally throw some sort of their “products” and randomly elicit a pain
response. There isn’t necessarily a pain stimulus in these scenarios, which is
what is so fascinating (and scary), and these organisms can literally
manipulate our physiology with a few personal chemicals.
Microorganisms are literally running the world and are
ought to make us suffer. Better choose sides wisely people… Here comes the
revolution.
REFERENCES:
Chiu IM, Heesters BA, Ghasemlou N, Von Hehn CA, Zhao
F, Tran J, Wainger B, Strominger A, Muralidharan S, Horswill AR, Wardenburg JB,
Hwang SW, Carroll MC, Woolf CJ. (2013). Bacteria activate sensory neurons that
modulate pain and inflammation. Nature. 501: 52-57. Available from: “http://www.nature.com.dml.regis.edu/nature/journal/v501/n7465/full/nature12479.html#f4”
It is amazing to me how much the human microbiome affects the health and wellness of an individual, both positively and negatively. In the case of pathogenic bacteria like S. aureus, the havoc they can wreak on a human body is astounding [and proves that size is not an accurate judge of strength]. What's most fascinating to me is that a multitude of common diseases totally unrelated to bacterial infection can be indirectly caused by an individual's microbiome. In a 2013 review paper, Everard and Cani discuss the role of gut microbiota in producing low-grade inflammation that may play a role in the onset of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Gut microbiota has been found to control fat cell development and energy homeostasis, and can essentially control an individual’s metabolism by increasing the energy absorbed from ingested food. The low grade inflammation that is often associated with Metabolic Syndrome originates from gut microbiota-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a powerful mitogen that activates the innate immune system and triggers chronic inflammation and the early stages of metabolic diseases. There is so much more research being done on the human microbiome, it’s exciting to learn what roles our ancient relatives play inside our bodies.
ReplyDeleteEverard, A. & Cani, P.D. (2013). Diabetes, obesity and gut microbiota. Best Practice and Research in Clinical Gastroenterology, 27(1), 73-83.
The role of bacteria in our daily lives is fascinating. There seems to be this battle of "good" vs. "bad" bacteria when it comes to our health - and tipping the balance in the right direction towards health and healing bacteria has been the focus of recent research. If the S. aureus bacteria can influence our physiology and override the CNS, then imagine also what positive effects can be gained from bacteria ? Some research has even found that gut bacteria effect our CNS and mental health. This relationships is called "Brain-Gut-Microbe Communication." Depression and anxiety can be effected when enteric bacteria populations change (Grenham et al. 2011).
ReplyDeleteWe all remember the articles about Fecal Transplants and C. difficile (Kelley et al. 2012). In fact, NPR just did a piece on these microbe transplants that shows that bacteria are gaining more public attention: "http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/09/09/216553408/microbe-transplants-treat-some-diseases-that-drugs-cant-fix". I hope more money and research can go into our relationship with these little creatures living within and among us.
More info see:
http://www.livescience.com/15822-embargoed-probiotic-bacteria-treat-depression.html
References
Grenham C, Clarke S, Cryan JF, Dinan TG. (2013). Brain-Gut-Microbe Communication in Health and Disease. Front Physol [Internet] (2011)2: 94. Available from: 0.3389/fphys.2011.00094
Kelley CR, Leon L, Jasutkar N. (2012). Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Relapsing Clostridium difficile Infection in 26 Patients. J Clin Gasterenterol. (46) 2: 145-149