Thursday, 13 March 2014

"Good" Bacteria or "Bad" Bacteria?


        In my previous blog, I outlined the systems of the body in which gut flora play an essential role in development and function. Today, I begin to look at how gut flora influence the developmental function of the immune system; specifically the mucosal immune system.
      The mucosal immune system is the portion of the immune system that protects mucous membranes throughout an organism's body. The membrane of the gut has the largest mucosal surface area in the body, which is continually exposed to microbes found in food as well as naturally occurring gut flora (Hanson, 1998). The mucosal immune system must be very precise when deciding whether or not a microorganism is 'good' or 'bad' for the body; there are so many helpful gut bacteria in our intestines as well as potentially harmful  invaders!
     Small proteins released by cells in the gut, called Cytokines, facilitate interactions between antibodies and T cells (Science Dictionary). Some Cytokines boost the response of the immune system, while others cause immunological tolerance, or no immune response (Hanson, 1998). Our immune system develops tolerance to the gut flora in our intestines; however, when the mucosal immune system fails to distinguish the difference between harmful and helpful (breaks tolerance to gut flora), it can lead to autoimmune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (Hanson, 1998). Nevertheless, the manipulation of micro flora may lead to promising therapeutic treatments (O'Hara & Shanahan, 2006).


Citations:

Brian, P. (n.d.). Science Dictionary - Glossary of Terms & Scientific Definitions. Science Dictionary. Retrieved March 13, 2014, from http://sciencedictionary.org/

Hanson, L.A. (1998). Immune effects of the normal gut flora. Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde, 146(S1), S2-S6.

O'Hara, A. M., & Shanahan, F. (2006). The Gut Flora As A Forgotten Organ. EMBO Reports, 7(7), 688-693.
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2 comments:

  1. Tasmin13 March 2014 at 14:42

    Interesting. You mention that the “manipulation of microflora can lead to promising therapeutic treatments“. What do you mean? Do you mean in relation to autoimmune diseases or diseases in general?

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  2. Unknown16 March 2014 at 06:06

    So far research suggests that manipulation of gut flora could have promising effects in a wide range of diseases; from liver disease, cardiovascular disease, and even type 2 diabetes. I will be discussing how gut flora influence different body systems and go into more depth about the possible therapies they could hold for future treatment.

    Here are some articles that discuss in detail the impact of gut flora and possible treatments (I will be citing these in the following weeks).


    Kootte, R. S., Vrieze, A., Holleman, F., Dallinga-Thie, G. M., Zoetendal, E. G., de Vos, W. M., Groen, A. K., Hoekstra, J. B. L., Stroes, E. S. and Nieuwdorp, M. (2012), The therapeutic potential of manipulating gut microbiota in obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 14: 112–120. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-1326.2011.01483.x

    Wang, Z. (2011). Gut flora metabolism of phosphatidylcholine promotes cardiovascular disease. Nature, 472(7341), 57-63. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from the nature database.

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