Half of the
world’s human population is infected with the stomach bacteria called
Helicobacter Pylori, yet it causes diseases in only about 10% of those
infected.
Other
bacteria living in the
stomach may be a key factor in whether or not
Helicobacter Pylori causes disease, according to a new study led by scientists
at the u8niversity of California, Santa Cruz.
“People tend
to think of the stomach as a relatively sterile environment, but it’s actually
populated with microbes,” said Karen Ottemann, professor and chair of
microbiology and environmental toxicology at UC Santa Cruz.
Researchers
in Ottemann’s lab were studying Helicobacter Pylori infections in mice when
they notice that mice from two different suppliers had different responses to
the infections, even though they were the same mouse strain ant therefore
genetically identical. Examining the bacteria in the stomach of the mice, they
found differences between the mice from different suppliers. They then used
antibiotics to alter the stomach micro flora in mice from a single supplier and
again found changes in the response to Helicobacter Pylori.
“we found
that something about the pre existing micro flora, before Helicobacter Pylori
comes into the mouse, change’s the mouse’s response to the infection,” Ottemann
said.
The
findings, published in the journal infection and immunity, have potential
implications for treating human infections.
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