Lactobacillus GG: A Potent Immune Regulator Effective in Many Disorders
New Research Reveals Probiotic’s Anti-Toxin, Anti-Inflammatory, Immune Boosting Properties
Lactobacillus GG is the most prolifically researched probiotic in the world—over 400 studies have been published that document its remarkable immune-modulating properties.This unique immunobiotic was isolated from a healthy human in 1985 by a team of two Tufts University researchers,Barry Goldin, M.S., Ph.D. and Sherwood L. Gorbach, M.D. They spent nearly a decade testing organisms until they discovered one that was a potent antimicrobial, survived stomach and bile acid, and was very, very sticky—it adhered well to the gut mucosa.
Read the rest of this page »
LGG (Culturelle) Its Workings Are Explained
Valio’s Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG®) is the most frequently studied and used probiotic. Under the supervision of researchers at the Institute of Biotechnology, and the Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences at the University of Helsinki, an international research team determined the genome sequences of LGG and a bacterium closely related to it. The results, published in the renowned PNAS journal, shed light on the origin of probiotic mechanisms.
Many research publications have confirmed that bacteria promote health and support immune systems and improve digestion. Some probiotics can also alleviate the symptoms suffered by those with irritable bowel syndrome. As many as every fifth westerner suffers from this pain, also called spastic colon. Studies say that LGG probiotics are also an effective treatment method for reducing children’s atopic symptoms, and the risk of respiratory infections.
Read the rest of this page »
A Novel Approach to Treating Depression – How Probiotics Can Shift Mood by Modulating Cytokines
Michael E. Ash, BSc.(Hons) DO. ND. F.Dip ION has written an overview from a clinical perspective of the emerging science related to the mucosal immune system and the health of the brain in relation to affect. Published by the in house journal from Allergy Research Group it provides a strategic approach to managing individuals using a novel probiotic strategy.
From our early days in utero until we die, the ability of the GI tract to renew and replenish itself and maintain a stable relationship with trillions of bacteria is astounding. On a typical day the innate immune system of our gastrointestinal tract will process more immunological information than the rest of our body in its entire lifetime. It’s an absolute immunological miracle we can consume antigenic particles of food and not drop down dead every time we do so.
Read the rest of this page »
Bonnie Bassler on how bacteria “talk”
See original post
Microbes: What They Do & How Antibiotics Change Them
Antibiotics and antibacterials can do more damage than good when they:
- kill good bacteria inside the human body
- destroy microbes that clean up pollution
- lead to antibiotic resistance in microorganisms
- make treatment of some diseases difficult when overused
Dr Maura Meade-Callahan PhD presents a summary article to explain further.
Antibiotics Take Toll on Beneficial Microbes in Gut
Read the rest of this page »
Comment: It’s common knowledge that a protective navy of bacteria normally floats in our intestinal tracts. Antibiotics at least temporarily disturb the normal balance. But it’s unclear which antibiotics are the most disruptive, and if the full array of “good bacteria” return promptly or remain altered for some time. In studies in mice, University of Michigan scientists have shown for the first time that two different types of antibiotics can cause moderate to wide-ranging changes in the ranks of these helpful guardians in the gut. In the case of one of the antibiotics, the armada of “good bacteria” did not recover its former diversity even many weeks after a course of antibiotics was over.
Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria: Origins and Emergence
Most clinically useful antibiotics exhibit their selective toxicity by specifically blocking one or another type of bacterial macromolecular synthesis (e.g.protein, nucleic acid or cell wall synthesis) — acting on targets that are not present or accessible in animal/human cells. Since the 1940s, when drugs such as penicillin, streptomycin, and chloramphenicol were introduced widely as “miraculous” agents for treating bacterial infections, the emergence of strains resistant to these and subsequently-developed drugs has represented a continuing clinical challenge. The eventual appearance of strains simultaneously resistant to multiple antibiotics significantly worsened the problem. The latter was found to involve different resistance genes linked to each other on segments of DNA able to move efficiently from one bacterial cell to another by phenomena known as horizontal gene transfer (HGT).
Read the rest of this page »
The immune system is prone to the same grave misfortunes as any defense system handling weapons: collateral damage that comes with the destruction of the enemy on one’s own territory and friendly fire due to mistaken identity. Whereas the collateral damage is the price we pay for clearance of infections, autoimmunity is a pathological process. Nevertheless, the effector mechanisms involved in both processes are the same. Whether environment can be a cause, a trigger or an amplifier of an autoimmune disease are questions that are being intensively investigated.
