5 ms·

It's not that challenging. We have a decent understanding of tregs (regulatory T cells) and their role in allergy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_T_ce

It's not that challenging. We have a decent understanding of tregs (regulatory T cells) and their role in allergy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_T_cell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_T_cell "Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are generated by the bacterial fermentation of dietary fibers, promote expansion of regulatory T cells (Tregs)." https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01036/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.0103... Dietary fiber is a variety of oligo and polysaccharides, certain species of bacteria excel at eating certain types, eg bifidobacteria likes inulin. You can get your gut flora sequenced, speculate on what you're deficient in, look it up, and feed them their favorite food. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/effects-of-inulin-on-faecal-bifidobacteria-in-human-subjects/6619FD5E854184A133ECC2A07E2E0C4F https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-n...

nextos 3y ago
Sure, but I don't think things are that simple. It's a huge ecosystem, once it falls into the wrong attractor it is hard to bring it back into a different healthy state. For example, some key bacteria and their symbionts may disappear, or their predators may become really abundant. In this scenario, increasing dietary nutrients to favor certain bacteria might not work. That is why stronger interventions, e.g. targeted bacteriophage therapies and fecal transplants are something that is getting trialed.
- soudiere 3y ago
  There's a wide variety of bacteria that inhabit the GI tract, with tremendous diversity around the world. The extinction idea is interesting, but I've not seen any evidence that demonstrates anything like it in the literature. https://sci-hub.se/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-0965-1 https://sci-hub.se/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-01... Bacteriophage & fecal transplants are nice options to have for treatment, but don't address the underlying cause that resulted in the GI dysfunction.
  - nextos 3y ago
    I don't think you are right. There is actually quite a lot of literature demonstrating how species present in hunter-gatherers are not present in the guts of individuals from industrialized societies. See e.g. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.05.046 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.05.046. Still, even if this was not the case at population level, my point would still hold. At individual level, many species are bimodal. With the wrong nutrients, infections, etc. your microbiome might fall into a state where you have none of them, as they have been outcompeted, and reversing that is incredibly difficult.

nextos 3y ago

Sure, but I don't think things are that simple. It's a huge ecosystem, once it falls into the wrong attractor it is hard to bring it back into a different healthy state. For example, some key bacteria and their symbionts may disappear, or their predators may become really abundant. In this scenario, increasing dietary nutrients to favor certain bacteria might not work. That is why stronger interventions, e.g. targeted bacteriophage therapies and fecal transplants are something that is getting trialed.

soudiere 3y ago
There's a wide variety of bacteria that inhabit the GI tract, with tremendous diversity around the world. The extinction idea is interesting, but I've not seen any evidence that demonstrates anything like it in the literature. https://sci-hub.se/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-0965-1 https://sci-hub.se/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-01... Bacteriophage & fecal transplants are nice options to have for treatment, but don't address the underlying cause that resulted in the GI dysfunction.
- nextos 3y ago
  I don't think you are right. There is actually quite a lot of literature demonstrating how species present in hunter-gatherers are not present in the guts of individuals from industrialized societies. See e.g. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.05.046 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.05.046. Still, even if this was not the case at population level, my point would still hold. At individual level, many species are bimodal. With the wrong nutrients, infections, etc. your microbiome might fall into a state where you have none of them, as they have been outcompeted, and reversing that is incredibly difficult.