Scientists found that gut bacteria protect people from life-threatening infections 03.23.2024,

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Every 10% increase in the number of certain gut bacteria reduces the risk of hospitalization for infections by 25%. This was reported by European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID).

Changes in the composition of the gut microbiota are common in patients hospitalized with severe infections. Previous studies have shown that such people have reduced levels of anaerobic gut bacteria that produce the substance butyrate.

The new study analyzed data from 10.7 thousand patients from the Netherlands and Finland. During follow-up, 602 of them were hospitalized for serious infection. The composition of the microbiota was determined by analyzing DNA isolated from intestinal content samples.

The higher the level of butyrate-producing bacteria, the lower the risk of serious infection. Every 10% increase in these microbes reduced the risk of hospitalization by 25% for Dutch participants and 14% for Finnish participants. These associations remained unchanged after adjustment for demographic characteristics, lifestyle, antibiotic exposure, and comorbidities.

Further research should investigate whether medications containing butyrate-producing bacteria may reduce the risk of serious infections. One of the problems is that these microbes are strictly anaerobic. This means they cannot survive in the presence of oxygen, making it very difficult for live bacteria to move into the intestines. Various research groups are working to solve this problem.

Early migration of a specific bacteria from the mouth to the intestines connected cancerous.

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