Latest News and Research
Whether you’ve been involved in a low-speed fender bender or a high-speed collision, your body has experienced trauma that needs to bt.
Diverse gut bacteria communities protect against pathogens
The human gut is home to hundreds of different bacterial species collectively known as the gut microbiome. A major health benefit these provide is to protect the gut against invading pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms) that could cause harmful infections. But up to now, how this protective effect comes about has been unclear, and whether certain bacterial species have a more important role than others.
To investigate this, researchers at the University of Oxford tested 100 different gut bacteria strains individually and in combination for their ability to limit the growth of two harmful bacterial pathogens: Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella enterica. Individual gut bacteria showed a very poor ability to restrict the spread of either pathogen.
This “community protection effect” was seen regardless of whether the bacteria were cultured together in vials, or in “germ-free” mice (which had no resident gut bacteria at the start of the experiments).
Author Professor Kevin Foster (Departments of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Oxford) said, “These results clearly demonstrate that colonization resistance is a collective property of microbiome communities; in other words, a single strain is protective only when in combination with others.”
However, the researchers found that the members of the bacterial communities — and not just the overall diversity — had a critical effect on the level of protection.
Certain species were found to be essential for community-based protection, even though these species offered little protection on their own.
The researchers demonstrated that protective bacterial communities block pathogen growth by consuming the nutrients the pathogen needs.
By assessing the genomes of the different bacterial species, they found that the most protective communities were composed of species with highly similar protein compositions to the pathogenic species.
They also used metabolic profiling to demonstrate that the protective species had similar demands for carbon sources as the pathogens.
Author Frances Spragge (Departments of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Oxford) added: “Crucially, although increased microbiome diversity increases the probability of protection against these pathogens, the overlap in nutrient utilization profiles between the community and the pathogen is key.
“Certain species that have a crucial role in community protection show a high degree of metabolic overlap with the pathogen, and therefore similar nutrient demands.”
The researchers used this nutrient blocking principle to predict communities of bacteria that would offer weak and strong protection against a different pathogen: an antimicrobial resistant E. coli strain.
When tested experimentally, the communities which had the highest nutrient overlap with the E. coli strain were up to 100-fold more effective at reducing the pathogen’s abundance than the communities predicted to give weak protection.
According to the researchers, these new insights could be developed into novel strategies to combat harmful gut pathogens through optimising gut microbiome communities.
They may also explain why individuals can become more susceptible to species such as K. pneumoniae after taking antibiotic treatments that can lower the diversity of gut microbiome species.
Author Erik Bakkeren (Departments of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Oxford) added: “Our work supports the general hypothesis that a more diverse microbiome can carry health benefits. This gives promise to the goal of optimising the composition of microbiomes to protect against bacterial species that are harmful to health.”
Story Source: Materials provided by University of Oxford.
Journal Reference:
- Frances Spragge, Erik Bakkeren, Martin T. Jahn, Elizete B. N. Araujo, Claire F. Pearson, Xuedan Wang, Louise Pankhurst, Olivier Cunrath, Kevin R. Foster. Microbiome diversity protects against pathogens by nutrient blocking. Science, 2023; 382 (6676) DOI: 10.1126/science.adj3502
Micro Plastic
What are some common auto accident injuries that you treat?
How does chiropractic care address auto accident injuries?
What if I’m just experiencing minor pain?
Should I go to the emergency room?
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Micro Plastic
This documentary is the result of a comprehensive scientific investigation that reveals one of the most urgent environmental and public health challenges of the 21st century: micro and nanoplastic pollution, and presents it in an accessible popular science format. Plastic symbolizes technological progress: lightweight, durable, and nearly everlasting. But humanity has overlooked something critically important – the very material created to improve our lives has begun to endanger them. Today, society vastly underestimates the real scale of the threat posed by plastic pollution. The plastic crisis is no longer limited to landfills or floating garbage patches in the world’s oceans. The true catastrophe is unfolding on a microscopic level: nanoplastics can penetrate biological barriers and accumulate within living organisms, including humans. This documentary brings together cutting-edge scientific data and insights from leading experts. It examines how micro- and nanoplastics disrupt ecosystems, impact human health, and why understanding the magnitude of this threat is essential for the future of our planet. Recent studies show that micro- and nanoplastics can accumulate and retain electrostatic charges for long periods of time. In this film, this property is examined as a key factor in their destructive effects – an angle rarely explored before. This perspective offers a new way to understand the dangers of plastics through the lens of their electrostatic activity. The film presents scientific findings on the scale and consequences of micro- and nanoplastic contamination, including: • Detection of plastic particles in air, water, food, and the human body – regardless of region. • Harmful effects of micro- and nanoplastics on human health, such as: – inflammation, DNA damage, and mutations, – endocrine disruption, – accelerated cellular aging, – cognitive impairment, – erectile dysfunction, infertility, – increased rates of cancer; – impacts on children beginning in the prenatal stage and continuing after birth. • The influence of micro- and nanoplastics on the climate. Plastic particles contribute to accelerated ocean warming, atmospheric anomalies, and disruptions to the hydrological cycle. It is crucial to understand that simply abandoning plastic today is no longer enough to solve this global problem, as micro- and nanoplastics have already become an integral part of the biosphere, and of the human body itself. Produced by: ALLATRA Global Research Center (ALLATRA GRC)
What are some common auto accident injuries that you treat?
Whiplash is one of the most common injuries we see at our clinic. This type of injury occurs when the soft tissues that surround the spine get damaged. The two most common symptoms of whiplash are neck pain and stiffness. These often don’t occur until a day or two after the accident.
Herniated and slipped discs also often occur as a result of auto accidents. With this type of injury, one or more of the fluid-filled discs located between the vertebrae become forced out of place due to the impact of the accident.
How does chiropractic care address auto accident injuries?
Chiropractic care is an ideal way to address auto accident injuries such as whiplash and herniated/bulging discs. That’s because these chiropractic techniques are drug-free, non-invasive, and gentle.
What if I’m just experiencing minor pain?
Even if you feel that your pain isn’t severe, it’s a good idea to get a thorough chiropractic evaluation. Many musculoskeletal injuries such as whiplash do not cause extreme pain right away. It may be several weeks before chronic pain arises. By coming in for a diagnostic exam as soon as possible after your accident we can ensure your injuries are fully diagnosed and managed.
Should I go to the emergency room?
By all means, if you feel you need to, are bleeding, or in severe pain, please go to the emergency room. We recommend visiting us after being checked out in the ER as it’s very common to miss misaligned spinal bones, which they likely won’t look for.
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