Two hospitals in Barcelona, the Clínic and Bellvitge, have launched Spain's first Fecal Microbiota Bank. Their goal is to obtain donations of stool from healthy individuals to perform microbiota transplants on patients suffering from potentially fatal infections of bacteria known as C. difficile infections. We step into the fecal microbiota transfer units of both hospitals to learn how they operate and meet some of the donors.
Gut Microbiota News Watch is a section dedicated to expanding knowledge about gut microbiota’s importance for health and quality of life among the media and society in general. Using clear and easy-to-understand language, our aim is to keep our readers up-to-date on the latest facts and news about gut microbiota.
You are probably familiar with the gut-brain connection. But did you know that your gut and lungs are in constant conversation? Scientists call this connection the gut-lung axis. Both the gut and lungs are mucosal organs—while the gut absorbs nutrients from food, the lungs absorb gases like oxygen from the air.
The topic for World Microbiome Day 2024 is “Feed your microbes”. We have interviewed scientists about the knowns and unknowns of what is a healthy gut microbiome and the current level of application of microbiome-directed personalized nutrition to healthcare.
While gut health and the microbiome have captured the attention of both researchers and the lay public, there is a gulf between popular media claims about gut health and the actual science. We spoke to Kristina Campbell, a microbiome science writer, about her new book on the subject called “Gut Health for Dummies”.
The mouth contains the second-largest bacterial community after the gut, but it ranks first in terms of bacterial diversity. Find out more about the link between how oral bacteria can alter the balance between health and disease beyond the oral cavity.
Growing evidence from the microbiome field shows that harnessing gut microbes through diet can beneficially impact brain and behaviour. Which gut microbiome-targeted interventions have been studied as potential approaches for mental health?
Fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut are dietary staples for many cultures worldwide. Now scientists understand better how eating these foods as part of a balanced diet may contribute to improving gut health.
Is there a disconnect between how your brain and gut communicate in IBS?
2 Apr 2024by Andreu Prados
Experiencing that sinking feeling in your gut when anxiety kicks in or feeling butterflies in your stomach when you fall in love are visible signals of the brain-gut connection. Emerging evidence suggests understanding the microbiota-gut-brain axis could be the missing key in managing IBS.
The bacteria that make up our gut microbiota lead a very active social life: they communicate and collaborate with each other, but also compete and keep each other in check. To a great extent, our health depends on this communication between them and with our cells. Hence, understanding how they relate to each other will be key to advancing toward the personalized medicine of the future.
Gut fungi have effects beyond the gut through the gut-brain axis
14 Feb 2024by Rene van den Wijngaard, Andreu Prados
Most research on the role of gut microbiota in the gut-brain axis has focused on bacteria, while fungi living inside the gut have been overlooked. What do we know about the role of gut fungi in the communication between the gut and the brain?
