Will Probiotic Bacteria Treat Type 2 Diabetes?
Scientists used a new method to identify bacteria that could positively affect host metabolism. They recently discovered four bacterial species – Lactobacillus johnsonii, Lactobacillus gasseri, Romboutsia ilealis, and Ruminococcus gnavus – that are likely to influence glucose metabolism.
Scientists have used a new approach to identify bacteria that could have a beneficial effect on host metabolism. Most recently, they discovered four bacterial species , Lactobacillus johnsonii, Lactobacillus gasseri, Romboutsia ilealis and Ruminococcus gnavus, that are likely to affect glucose metabolism.
"We consider the first two listed to be 'improvers' of glucose metabolism and, conversely, the latter two to be 'impairers,'" explains Natalia Shulzenko, study leader and associate professor of biomedical sciences at Oregon State University's (OSU) Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine.
"We hypothesize that specific bacterial species and/or their interactions play a key role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Not the overall dysbiosis of the microbiome."
Her team, along with researchers from the University of Vienna, used an analysis called the Transkingdom Network to model what reactions take place between the host and its microbiome on a Western-style diet (our normal diet). Their goal was to identify the part of the microbiota that alters the host's metabolism.
From analyses of these interactions, they created a list of bacterial species that affect the host's metabolism beneficially and those that are detrimental.
The research team then began to verify the functional role of each individual bacterium on the list to determine their exact impact on metabolic control and how they behave in the host organism.
Enhancers and aggravators
"The analysis pointed to specific bacteria that could potentially affect the way humans digest sugars and fats," explains Dr Andrey Morgun, one of the study leaders.
"More importantly, the study allowed us to draw conclusions about whether these effects are harmful or beneficial to the host. And that's how we found the link between these bacteria and obesity."
Next, the team set the mice on our Western-type diet. At the same time, the scientists fed one group of mice with bacteria that improved metabolism and the other group with bacteria that worsened it. The mice that received lactobacilli saw an improvement in liver health and thus an improvement in the conversion of sugars and fats.
These results were then compared with previous data from human studies, which found associations between a person's body mass index BMI and high numbers of these four bacteria.
Simply put, more "enhancer" or beneficial bacteria meant a better BMI, while increased numbers of "impairer" bacteria were associated with a less healthy BMI.
"We found that Rombutsia idealis is present in more than 80% of obese patients, suggesting that this bacterium could be the predominant aggravator in overweight people," adds Dr. Shulzenko.
"Our observations confirmed what we observed in mice on a Western diet. When we looked at all those metabolites, we found a few among them that pointed to a huge contribution of probiotic effects of the Lactobacillus treatment."
Research conclusions
At the conclusion of the research, the team of scientists put into focus a series of mechanisms that are very likely to explain how the bacteria of the gut microbiome influence the progression of type 2 diabetes.
These include, among others, the regulation of inflammatory and immune mediators, gut hormones, intestinal mucosal permeability and insulin production.
"The interaction between mitochondria (cell lungs) and the microbiota is the latest direction in microbiome research. We have also applied it to research on Parkinson's disease or intestinal cell death due to antibiotic-resistant microbiota."
"Metabolic health is synonymous with mitochondrial health, where the axis between the mitochondria and the microbiome plays an important role." Thus, if we ensure the health of our mitochondria, they will repay us with overall health and proper body weight.
Author. Norbert Bomba
Source:
Rodrigues, R.R., Gurung, M., Li, Z. et al. Transkingdom interactions between Lactobacilli and hepatic mitochondria attenuate western diet-induced diabetes. Nat Commun 12, 101 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20313-x
