The Gut Balancing Act! (PLOS Pathogens August 2013)

[JLH]

The Gut Balancing Act!
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Keeping a healthy gut is like trying to walk on a tight rope; it is a challenge; creating an environment that nurtures both the trillions of beneficial microbes while protecting against food-borne pathogen invasions requires a strategic balance act. Now, researchers at both the Lerner Research Institute in Cleveland and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, have discovered a way to bring that balance.

The new study shows that SIGIRR, a protein that lines the gut, function in mice (and presumably also in humans) is necessary to protect the gut against "hostile takeover" by bacteria that causes serious food poisoning and bowel inflammation. The researchers speculate that modulating SIGIRR function within the gut might one day offer therapeutic potential for gastro-intestinal disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease.

For more information go to: http://www.plospathogens.org/article/in ... B335B5C64C

SOURCE: PLOS Pathogens, August 2013

[gluten]

Hi Joan, Thank you for the very interesting post. Jon