High-fat diet with antibiotic use linked to gut inflammation
Combining Western diet and antibiotic use is a pre- IBD risk factor
July 15, 2020
Science Daily/University of California - Davis Health
UC Davis researchers have found that combining a Western-style high-fat diet with antibiotic use significantly increases the risk of developing pre-inflammatory bowel disease (pre-IBD). The study, published July 14 in Cell Host and Microbe, suggests that this combination shuts down the energy factories (mitochondria) in cells of the colon lining, leading to gut inflammation.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects approximately 11% of people worldwide. It is characterized by recurring episodes of abdominal pain, bloating and changes in bowel habits. IBS patients with mucosal inflammation and changes in the gut's microbial composition are considered pre-IBD.
Antibiotic usage with high-fat diet is a risk factor
The study included 43 healthy adults and 49 adult patients diagnosed with IBS. The researchers measured fecal calprotectin, a biomarker for intestinal inflammation, of participants. Elevated levels of fecal calprotectin indicated a pre-IBD condition. The study identified 19 patients with IBS as pre-IBD.
The researchers found that all participants who consumed high-fat diet and used antibiotics were at 8.6 times higher risk for having pre-IBD than those on low-fat diet and no recent history of antibiotic use. Participants with the highest fat consumption were about 2.8 times more likely to have pre-IBD than those with the lowest fat intake. A history of recent antibiotic usage alone was associated with 3.9 times higher likelihood of having pre-IBD.
"Our study found that a history of antibiotics in individuals consuming a high-fat diet was associated with the greatest risk for pre-IBD," said Andreas Bäumler, professor of medical microbiology and immunology and lead author on the study. "Until now, we didn't appreciate how different environmental risk factors can synergize to drive the disease."
Shutting the cell's powerhouse promotes gut microbial growth
Using mouse models, the study also tested the effect of high-fat diet and antibiotics use on the cells in the intestinal lining. It found that high-fat diet and antibiotics cooperate to disrupt the work of the cell's mitochondria, shutting its ability to burn oxygen. This disruption causes reduction in cell's oxygen consumption and leads to oxygen leakage into the gut.
The body's beneficial bacteria thrive in environments lacking oxygen such as the large intestine. Higher oxygen levels in the gut promote bacterial imbalances and inflammation. With the disruption in the gut environment, a vicious cycle of replacing the good bacteria with potentially harmful proinflammatory microbes that are more oxygen tolerant begins. This in turn leads to mucosal inflammation linked to pre-IBD conditions.
The study also identified 5-aminosalicylate (mesalazine), a drug that restarts the energy factories in the intestinal lining, as a potential treatment for pre-IBD.
"The best approach to a healthy gut is to get rid of the preferred sustenance of harmful microbes," Lee said. "Our study emphasized the importance of avoiding high fat food and abuse of antibiotics to avoid gut inflammation."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715142400.htm
Intelligence can link to health and aging
May 8, 2019
Science Daily/University of Missouri-Columbia
For over 100 years, scientists have sought to understand what links a person's general intelligence, health and aging. In a new study, a University of Missouri scientist suggests a model where mitochondria, or small energy producing parts of cells, could form the basis of this link. This insight could provide valuable information to researchers studying various genetic and environmental influences and alternative therapies for age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.
"There are a lot of hypotheses on what this link is, but no model to link them all together," said David Geary, Curators Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science. "Mitochondria produce cellular energy in the human body, and energy availability is the lowest common denominator needed for the functioning of all biological systems. My model shows mitochondrial function might help explain the link between general intelligence, health and aging."
Geary's insight came as he was working on a way to better understand gender-specific vulnerabilities related to language and spatial abilities with certain prenatal and other stressors, which may also involve mitochondrial functioning. Mitochondria produce ATP, or cellular energy. They also respond to their environment, so Geary said habits such as regular exercise and a diet with fruits and vegetables, can promote healthy mitochondria.
"These systems are being used over and over again, and eventually their heavy use results in gradual decline," Geary said. "Knowing this, we can help explain the parallel changes in cognition and health associated with aging. Also with good mitochondrial function, the aging processes will occur much more slowly. Mitochondria have been relatively overlooked in the past, but are now considered to relate to psychiatric health and neurological diseases."
Geary said chronic stress can also damage mitochondria that can affect the whole body -- such as the brain and the heart -- simultaneously.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190508134509.htm