Hmmm.. you know OM, this is kind of interesting from a totally different and I think totally unexplored thought... And also when taken in context with the amino acid paper you posted.
We know a few things about
newborns now:
1) Healthy newborn's harbor or carry the C-diff that in adults causes infection but in them it does not - This is thought (and demonstrated in non-human examples like mice or hamsters) that it's the non-pathogenic Clostridium species that prevent the bad guys from doing any harm. We also know that in IBD there is a reduction in Clostridium and that in older people the bacterial balance shifts, perhaps leaving them
open or susceptible to C-diff due to a loss or decline in protective species..
2) We know that newborn's immune systems are suppressed for the first few weeks in order to allow bacterial colonization to take place
3) According to your two studies we know that if a newborn is in isolation or treated with antibiotics they develop a different microbiota. And more so they develop a microbitoa based on what they come into contact with first - and in the case of premature newborns this shows a bacterial composition again quite similar to IBD types.
3) We know (or think) that there may be a lower incidence of certain IBD diseases and perhaps even allergies in developing countries - and we can probably assume that it's not so much diet that has changed between East and West but actually "hospital maternity ward hygiene". In fact even in second world countries, the places with the highest incidence might even have the cleaner of the maternity wards... This I find to be an intriguing pathway to explore.
4) what has changed over the last 100 years... hygiene at birth
5) - Sorry go a little off topic there, but that got my mind spinning... aside from that and in context with the Amino Acid paper tryptophan, and tyrosine both of which we sure read a lot about
. Both are "aromatic amino acids". Both play their role with respect to seratonin and dopamine levels. And it would appear may also have a role in inflammation/anti-inflammation.
Now there's that recent paper about
(aerobic - oxygen loving) bacteria colonizing colonic crypts in mice. And the most prevalent where I believe Gammaproteobacteria - and of these ummm.. acinobacteria perhaps it was or ummm acinetobacteria... Clostridium and Lactobacilli were next most prevalent detected I think. And a decline in these has been associated with IBD. Anyway I was reading the other day that certain gammabacteria specifically acinetobateria (i think they are called) oxidize tryptophan. And then I started thinking about
the AA thing where there's an overabundance of Seratonin and all that Tryrosine and such. And well.. I'm not sure where this is going in my head just yet... But I'm wondering what an overabundance/underabundance of these bacteria might do - like change all the tryptophan to an unusable form. Or well.. not sure yet.
But I find it odd that these are all soil based organisms... and some say it's good to get some dirt in with the baby haha. And dirt doesn't exist much in hospitals anymore.
I'd be interesting in knowing what these bacteria do to or effect Amino Acids. And how antibiotic usage effects the above mentioned bacteria. And anything else that could tie a change in these to IBD. And the whole maternity ward thing is interesting.
Anyway thinking out loud again.
Post Edited (Canada Mark) : 1/28/2014 9:28:54 PM (GMT-7)