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Does what happens
in our guts and
intestines influence
our appetites and
satiety, as well as
our moods and
emotions?
The Gut-Brain
Connection and the
Human Microbiome
Project
Could the microbes in our
bodies influence our thinking?
By Dr. Tom Miller, Staff Writer
Much attention has been given
to the human genome over the past
decade, but there is an equally interesting area of research focusing on the
human microbiome. The Genome
Institute is part of an initiative seeking to sequence the entire genomes
of 3,000 individual microbes found
within our human microbiome. A
very new project from the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) is the
Human Microbiome Project (HMP).
This innovative project has begun
sampling and sequencing the microbial communities at 18 different sites
on the body, including the mouth,
nose, skin, vagina and gut.
The Human Genome Project was
created to catalog the entire sequence
of our DNA. In a similar way, the
HMP is working to catalog the
genetic information of the microbes
in and on the human body that contribute to our survival. It is one of
several international efforts designed
to take advantage of large-scale,
multi-site analyses to study the role
of the microbiome in human health.
By looking at the genetic variations
of microbes at various body sites, as
well as among different individuals,
scientists want to increase our understanding about how our microbiome
keeps us healthy or how they may
contribute to certain physical and
mental diseases and disorders.
Researchers (Lowery 2015) have
made some progress in better understanding these microorganisms by
studying young, healthy adults. Early
research is providing clinicians and
researchers an idea of the microbes
that live inside our bodies when we
are in a normal, healthy state. Gut
microbes may influence the risk of
psychiatric and neurologic disorders such as anxiety, depression and
autism, according to several researchers recently interviewed by the Kavli
Foundation (Mazmanian 2015).
Our bodies are a haven for
microscopic organisms. In fact, they
outnumber our own cells 10 to one.
Thousands of different microbial species colonize in our bodies. Together
they contain more than 100 times the
genes that are in our genome. This
group of microorganisms is called
the microbiome, and it helps keep us
alive.
While current studies are focusing on the microbiomes of healthy
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University researchers in St. Louis are
working with the Genome Institute
to sequence the microbiomes of
certain diseased patients, including those with Crohn’s disease (an
inflammatory condition affecting the
gastrointestinal tract); children with
fever of unknown origin; and an often
fatal condition in premature babies
called necrotizing enterocolitis, which
causes inflammation of the intestinal
tissue. The Genome Institute is also
collaborating with researchers at
other institutions who are looking
at how the microbiome is associated
with sexually transmitted diseases and
the male adolescent urethra, as well as
a project dealing with the skin microbiome as it relates to acne.
With trillions of microbes living
in the human body, mostly in the gut
and intestines, could these microorganisms influence brain functioning?
More specifically, does what happens
in our guts and intestines influence
our appetites and satiety, as well as
our moods and emotions? A research
team led by Dr. Christopher Lowry,
professor of integrative physiology at
the University of Colorado, Boulder,
says there is a gut-microbiome-brain
connection. The team noted that
research using mice found stressinduced changes to a mother’s
microbiome altered the development
of the brain in her offspring. They
further report finding injecting molecules produced by gut bacteria into
the bloodstream caused behavioral
abnormalities associated with autism
and clinical anxiety. Researchers
are also investigating whether the
microbiome could play a role in
Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.
While research on the human
microbiome is still developing, early
results suggest our health and wellness are influenced by these colonies
of microbes, and we are only just
beginning to illuminate our vision of
the gut-microbiome-brain connection
and mental as well as physical health.
Amazing M