Allergies linked to baby's birthplace, gut bugs

[Celebration]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/30/us-allergies-linked-idUSTRE78T3FK20110930

The researchers found that C. difficile, a type of bacteria known to spread in hospitals, was most commonly seen in the intestines of babies born by cesarean section. Forty-three percent of them harbored C. difficile in their feces, compared to 27 percent of babies born vaginally in the hospital and 19 percent of those born at home.

Researchers said that while babies born vaginally get their first gut bacteria from their moms -- in the birth canal and through other direct contacts -- C-section babies are first exposed to bacteria on doctors' and nurses' skin, or from other places in the delivery room.

And that early first exposure to bacteria, they found, could have later implications. Kids who tested positive for C. difficile as babies were twice as likely to have asthma at age six or seven, and were also more likely to have eczema or a food "sensitization."

In all, about seven percent of kids had asthma, close to 22 percent had the warning signs of a food allergy and 12 percent recently had eczema.

Gut microbes are known to regulate and influence important aspects of immune functioning throughout body.

[Demeter]

1. No Kidding

shakes head sadly

[starroute]

2. It's starting to seem like our gut bacteria run us for their own purposes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110517110315.htm

May 17, 2011

For the first time, researchers at McMaster University have conclusive evidence that bacteria residing in the gut influence brain chemistry and behaviour.

The findings are important because several common types of gastrointestinal disease, including irritable bowel syndrome, are frequently associated with anxiety or depression. In addition there has been speculation that some psychiatric disorders, such as late onset autism, may be associated with an abnormal bacterial content in the gut. . . .

Working with healthy adult mice, the researchers showed that disrupting the normal bacterial content of the gut with antibiotics produced changes in behaviour; the mice became less cautious or anxious. This change was accompanied by an increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which has been linked to depression and anxiety.

When oral antibiotics were discontinued, bacteria in the gut returned to normal. "This was accompanied by restoration of normal behaviour and brain chemistry," Collins said.


http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-gut-bacteria-functions.html

February 28, 2011

Claus and her colleagues exposed germ-free mice to bedding that had previously been used by conventional mice with normal microbiota and followed their metabolic profiles for 20 days to observe changes as they became colonized with gut bacteria.

Over the first 5 days after exposure, the mice exhibited a rapid increase in weight (4%). Colonization also triggered a number of processes in the liver in which sugars (glucose) are converted to starch (glycogen) and fat (triglycerides) for short-term and long-term energy storage. Statistical modeling between liver metabolic functions and microbial populations determined that the levels of glucose, glycogen and triglycerides in the liver were strongly associated with a single family of bacteria called Coriobacteriaceae. . . .

Another important finding in the paper, according to Claus, is that gut colonization strongly stimulated the expression and activity of the cytochrome P450 3A11, an essential enzyme in drug-detoxification pathways.

[SheilaT]

3. I wish the study had also looked at

breast-feeding as a possible mitigating factor.

Both of my sons were born by C-section, and while the older one has a few allergies (ragweed, cat), I don't think the younger one has any at all. I nursed both of them exclusively for the first six months, and continued while feeding them other stuff for some time longer.

I realize there are kids who were also breast-fed who wind up with asthma or terrible allergies, which helps prove that the whole thing is a very complicated interaction of genetics and environment.