Tag: microbiome

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Microbiome may be the key

Microbiome may be the key

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Wellness rewards from consuming dietary fibers may possibly rely on the sort of fiber, dosage, and one’s microbiome, a modern review observed. Jeff Wasserman/Stocksy
  • Superior fiber meal plans have lots of health positive aspects, like lowering the hazard of coronary heart assault and stroke.
  • Many distinct types of nutritional fiber can be eaten as portion of a assorted food plan or as dietary supplements.
  • Distinct fibers could have unique results on our intestine microbiome.
  • A new research suggests that applying targeted dietary fibers may perhaps profit wellbeing.

Fiber is an crucial part of our weight loss plans. If not identified as roughage, it is the indigestible portion of plant foods that can help lessen the danger of well being situations these kinds of as heart sickness and variety 2 diabetes.

There are two sorts of fiber, both of which are non-starch polysaccharides that folks can’t digest:

  • Insoluble fiber delivers bulk to the diet plan and moves squander by way of the overall body, maintaining the gut healthy and assisting avert constipation.
  • Soluble fiber forms a gel-like material that is damaged down by intestine germs. It can decreased cholesterol levels and assistance control blood sugar concentrations.

But not all dietary fibers are equivalent. A new analyze posted in Mobile Host & Microbe has located that wellbeing added benefits fluctuate involving individuals and may count on the form of fiber, the dose eaten, and the individual’s microbiome.

Scientists from Stanford Faculty of Medication examined how two purified soluble fibers — arabinoxylan (AX) and lengthy-chain inulin (LCI) — afflicted a team of 18 contributors.

AX is observed in total grains, these types of as rye, wheat, oats, and rice LCI is identified in onions, chicory root, garlic, and Jerusalem artichokes. Equally styles of fiber can also be taken as dietary health supplements.

The members in the study had an normal age of 56.9 years. Of the 8 guys and 10 women, 14 had obese or overweight, and 11 had been insulin delicate. The scientists separated them randomly into 2 teams for three crossover trials. One particular group commenced with AX, the other with LCI then switched more than. Both equally groups finished with a mixture of fibers consisting of AX, LCI, acacia gum, glucomannans, and resistant starch.

Each and every trial lasted 3 weeks. In the 1st week, the participants consumed 10g of fiber per day, climbing to 20g in the 2nd week and 30g in the 3rd. The participants then experienced a 6-8 week crack between the 3 trials.

“This is a Pretty tiny research of 18 participants who are ‘free-living’ — this means their food stuff is not currently being managed — so involving the foodstuff and the sample measurement, it’s very tricky to attract meaningful conclusions. Like virtually all fantastic investigate I study on the microbiome, this raises as a lot of thoughts as it answers.”

– Kate Cohen, M.S., R.D.N., of the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medication at Providence Saint John’s Well being Middle in Santa Monica, CA, talking to Health-related News Right now.

The scientists collected plasma, serum, and stool samples from all contributors at the start out of the demo, then at the conclusion of each week. They also measured their heart fee and blood strain.

They calculated adjustments in lipids, which includes cholesterol, the genetic substance in the stool samples (to establish gut microbes), plasma proteins, metabolites, and cytokines. Cytokines are inflammatory markers indicating inflammation in the physique.

When using AX, most participants experienced a major drop in lower-density lipoprotein (LDL), or ‘bad’ cholesterol, and an enhance in bile acids. The authors suggest that the raise in bile acids could lead to the reduction in LDL. Nevertheless, some contributors noticed no improve in LDL stages.

For LCI, most, but not all, folks observed a little minimize in inflammatory markers and an boost in Bifidobacterium. This gut microbe is usually regarded as advantageous to gut health and fitness. Nonetheless, the optimum dose of LCI (30g for every day) reversed this outcome. At this dose, members saw increased inflammation and elevation in alanine aminotransferase, an enzyme involved with liver problems.

Blended fiber supplementation yielded less important variations.

The authors notice that responses were not consistent for all persons for either type of fiber, suggesting that each individual person’s microbiome may determine responses.

“Our success show that the physiological, microbial and molecular results of individual fibers vary substantially.”

– Dr. Michael Snyder, senior research creator, stated in a press release.

Kate Cohen was excited to see exactly where the authors would go following: “Uncovering how unique fibers interact with the microbiome is an crucial phase towards creating individualized diet a actuality. This investigation is also laying the groundwork for utilizing meals-as-drugs in a certainly prescriptive way. This analyze confirms when once again that the microbiome holds great probable for being familiar with human wellness.”

The present advised fiber ingestion is 14 grams for each individual 1,000 energy consumed, according to the American Academy of Nutrition.

Experts say it is greatest to get your fiber from meals resources in advance of employing health supplements.

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The skin’s microbiome may play a key role

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New research finds that the skin’s microbiome and its bacterial pathways are involved in the skin aging process. fzant/Getty Images
  • A recent study published in the journal PLOS One has identified bacterial pathways associated with skin aging.
  • The data demonstrated that the main bacterial pathways related to aging involve the production of skin pigment, fatty acids, and ceramides.
  • Better understanding the molecular processes that drive skin aging and their relationship with the microbiome will require further research.
  • Data from prospective studies may help develop effective treatments to combat skin aging.

Bacteria, fungi, and viruses live on the skin and in the gut. The skin is the body’s largest organ, and it serves as a protective barrier from the outside environment.

Commensal microbial communities on the skin, also known as the skin microbiome, do not cause disease and benefit the body. They may be fixed or exist temporarily on the skin.

The skin microbiome interacts with the body’s immune system and may affect its functioning. And the immune system regulates the makeup of the skin microbiome.

Aging causes changes to the skin’s structure and function. This may result from “intrinsic” factors, such as hormonal, metabolic, or immune system changes. “Extrinsic” factors, such as smoking and exposure to sunlight and certain temperatures, may also trigger immune processes that affect the skin’s structure and rejuvenation.

Increased wrinkles, decreased elasticity, reduced wound healing, and impaired barrier function are skin changes that occur during aging.

Changes in the skin microbiome can also stem from a decline in the production of sebum, which is an oily substance that protects the skin, as well as from decreased water content in the skin and immune dysfunction.

Advanced scientific methods called 16S ribosomal RNA gene and metagenomic sequencing techniques are now available to assess changes in the skin’s microbes caused by aging.

Dr. Elizabeth Grice, an associate professor of dermatology and microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, explained in a 2019 lecture that the 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing technique allows us to “answer the questions [about] the composition of a sample or the diversity of a sample.”

She went on to say that “Shotgun metagenomics provides a more nuanced view of the skin microbiome. Using these methods, one can take a sample containing the genomic DNA, […] break up that DNA in the sample, and then sequence those fragments. This allows one to identify microbes to the species and strain level, it allows one to reconstruct the genetic and functional metabolic pathways within a sample and, importantly, it gives you a multi-kingdom view of the skin microbiome.”

Previous studies have demonstrated that the skin microbiomes of all humans consistently contains certain species of Staphylococcus, Cutibacterium, Corynebacterium, and Acinetobacter bacteria.

However, age, body area, gender, and geographic location affect the composition of the skin microbiome. Although previous studies had identified changes in the makeup of the skin microbiome related to aging, researchers had yet to fully understand the mechanisms behind these changes.

In a new study, a team from NIZO Food Research, in the Netherlands, set out to understand the connection between the body’s cellular processes, called co-metabolism, and genes, or bacterial functionalities, involved in skin aging. Estée Lauder, a company that sells skincare products, partially funded the study.

First, the researchers searched existing scientific literature to identify common biologic pathways between humans and skin microbes linked to intrinsic skin aging. They then used 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing testing from cheek samples of female participants with various age-related skin changes to confirm the changes to the skin microbiome composition seen in selected studies.

The team took skin swab samples, one from each cheek, from 25 healthy female participants of European descent in Belgium. The participants fell into two age groups, one aged 20–28, and the other aged 59–68.

The study excluded participants with certain skin conditions and external factors related to skin aging. Some of the exclusion criteria included:

  • acne
  • eczema
  • psoriasis
  • use of skin medications, such as antibiotics, antifungals, or steroids, within 1 month of the study
  • smoking, or a history of smoking in the past 2 years
  • tanning or sunbathing
  • drinking more than 3 servings of alcohol per day

The researchers gathered reference genomes from the gene sequences database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The information concerned genes relevant to skin aging, as identified and confirmed by testing.

The team then used microbial pathways to create graphical models, which they used to analyze the reference skin organism genomes, 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing testing, and data from the direct analysis of genomes from the collected skin samples.

The group found that bacterial pathways linked to skin aging were related to the production of ceramides, which are lipids that compose the natural skin barrier, as well as fatty acids and pigmentation. The researchers also determined that bacterial enzymes involved in protein glycation were associated with skin aging.

Protein glycation in the skin occurs when sugars link to proteins, such as collagen and elastin. An accumulation of glycation of collagen and elastin end products can result in loss of skin elasticity and sagging.

Dr. Dina F. Bierman, a board-certified dermatologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, who was not involved in the study, explained to Medical News Today that:

“[The study] went one step beyond what we already knew. […] They separated the population based [on] how their skin had aged. […] Making that distinction is very important, in terms of understanding how the bacteria and their presence are influencing the skin and the metabolic processes that influence aging.”

One limitation of the study, however, is its small size and lack of diversity, which may limit the generalizability of its findings.

Overall, the results may serve as a basis for future studies seeking to improve our understanding of the interplay of molecular processes and the microbiome in skin aging.

Dr. Bierman described the study as a good starting point, but added that “A lot of research [is needed] before we can actually, for sure, say what the different bacteria are doing and how they interact with each [other], too, and might influence how our skin ages.”