According to a story from Medical Xpress, a recent study involving over 400 children has revealed the distinct characteristics of the gut microbiome in ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis is considered rare, especially in children. All of the patients in the study had recently been diagnosed and had yet to receive treatment for their disease.
About Ulcerative Colitis
Ulcerative colitis is a long term, inflammatory condition that causes ulcers to appear within the colon and rectum. The direct cause of this condition remains unknown, but it is thought that a number of different factors could play a role. Ethnic variations and the tendency for the disease to run in families suggests that genes play a role. Diet choices could also be important; meat and alcohol can often trigger disease relapse. Symptoms of the condition include abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, anemia, fever, and weight loss. Symptoms tend to develop slowly and generally occur in a relapsing – remitting pattern, where episodes of symptoms are separated by periods of no symptoms. Inflammation and ulcers can spread to other parts of the body in severe disease, and the risk of colon cancer is increased. Treatment may include iron supplementation, certain medications, and surgery. Digestive system characteristics of the disease can be cured with surgical removal of the large intestine. A diet low in fiber can be beneficial. To learn more about ulcerative colitis, click here.
The Microbiome
The microbiome is a term that encompasses all microorganisms that survive within the body of a larger, multicellular organism, such as a human, as well as the collective genomes of these microorganisms. Although they are not directly part of the host’s body, the presence of the microbiome, which may include fungi, protists, bacteria, and viruses, are often essential for the maintenance of normal bodily function. The human body is, in reality, a diverse ecosystem in which millions of organisms live out their lives.
The study identified 50 different microbes whose abundance were associated with the severity of disease at diagnosis. Changes in the abundance of different microbes also helped determine if a patient would respond to typical therapies for ulcerative colitis. In severe cases, the gut microbiome of child patients was exceptionally high in species that were normally found in the mouth, which appeared to worsen inflammation. Interactions between the immune system and microbes also appeared to determine how a patient’s disease progressed.
Check out the original study here.
