SIGIRR Protein Found To Protect Gut Flora From Toxins

Credit: Barcroft/Fame Pictures/NPR

Scientists have discovered that the SIGIRR protein protects the beneficial bacteria in the gut (known as Gut Flora) from toxins and substances that can cause food poisoning and bowel inflammation. The Single Ig IL-1-Related Receptor (SIGIRR) is a protein encoded by the SIGIRR gene in humans.

The human body carries over a thousand species of bacteria. Most of these can be found in the human intestinal tract or the gut. These bacteria, collectively called Human Gut Flora comprises about 500 species and is beneficial to the body.

Gut flora performs important functions such as fermenting unused energy substrates, training the immune system, preventing growth of harmful, pathogenic bacteria, regulating the development of the gut, producing vitamins (such as biotin and vitamin K) for the host, and producing hormones to direct the host to store fats.

Although the positive relationship between gut flora and the human body, there are certain situations and conditions that bacteria can cause infections, disease, and even cancer.

Stem Cell May Repair Damage or Loss of Neurons in The Enteric Nervous System

The Enteric Nervous System is a collection of nerve cells (neurons) in the gut from the esophagus to the rectum. It is known as the brain of the gut. It is autonomous to the central nervous system and functions independently from it.

Proper function of the digestive system requires coordinated contraction of the muscle in the wall of the intestinal tract, regulated by the enteric nervous system. Damage or loss of these neurons can result in intestinal motility disorders, such as Hirschsprung's disease, for which there is a dearth of effective treatments.

Research Show Relationship Between Intestinal Bacteria and Type 2 Diabetes

The human body is a host to thousands of species of bacteria. The bulk of these bacteria live in the human intestinal tract or the gut. These bacteria perform activities that are beneficial to the body.

Bacteria that are not harmful and are beneficial to the body are said to be part of the normal flora. Since "flora" pertains to plants, the term "biota" is also used although generally, flora is an accepted word to describe this microsystem.

Human gut flora, consists of an average of 500 different species. They serve various beneficial functions such as fermenting unused energy substrates, training the immune system, preventing growth of harmful, pathogenic bacteria, regulating the development of the gut, producing vitamins (such as biotin and vitamin K) for the host, and producing hormones to direct the host to store fats.

Although the relationship of gut flora and the human body is generally beneficial and mutual, there are certain situations and conditions that bacteria can cause infections, disease, and even cancer.

Gut bacteria could cause diabetes

The number of people suffering from type 2 diabetes world-wide has risen rapidly in recent years, and scientists estimate that just as many people could be suffering from the illness without realising it. New research now indicates that your gut bacteria can reveal whether you suffer from the disease.

"We have demonstrated that people with type 2 diabetes have a high level of pathogens in their intestines," says professor Jun Wang from the University of Copenhagen's Department of Biology and Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research.

Findings Show Breastfeeding Beneficial to Infant's Immune System, Intestinal Stability, and Healthy Gut

Alveoli are cells inside the breast that makes milk. When a woman's breast becomes full and tender during pregnancy, it is a sign that the alveoli are getting ready to work.

These changes in the breast are sometimes not felt by the woman until the baby is born.

The alveoli make milk in response to the hormone prolactin. The levels of prolactin rises when the baby suckles.

Aside from this, oxytocin (another hormone), causes small muscles around the cells to contract. This allows the milk to move through a series of small tubes called milk ducts. This moving of the milk is called let-down reflex.

Oxytocin also causes the muscles of the uterus to contract during and after birth which lets the uterus go back to its original size. Oxytocin also lessens any bleeding a woman may have after giving birth. The release of both prolactin and oxytocin may be responsible in part for a mother’s intense feeling of needing to be with her baby.

Breastfeeding is associated with a healthy infant gut

Early colonization of the gut by microbes in infants is critical for development of their intestinal tract and in immune development. A new study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, shows that differences in bacterial colonization of formula-fed and breast-fed babies leads to changes in the infant's expression of genes involved in the immune system, and in defense against pathogens.

The health of individuals can be influenced by the diversity of microbes colonizing the gut, and microbial colonization can be especially important in regulating both intestinal and immune development in infants. However, little is known about the potential interactions between the host's health at a molecular level, their gut microbes, and diet.

Leaky Gut Syndrome May Lead to Cancer Study Suggests

A condition where the bowel lining of the body is damaged or altered is called leaky gut syndrome. This is not a recognized medical diagnosis but is used by alternative medicine practitioners.

It is believed to be caused by toxins, poor dietary habits, parasites, infections or side effect of medications. These factor makes the gut wall more "permeable" allowing substances such as toxins, microbes, undigested food, waste, or larger than normal macromolecules to leak through the gut wall. Practitioners who believe in the diagnosis propose that these leaked substances affect the body directly or initiate an immune reaction.

Now, researchers suggest that a leaky gut may be the root of some cancers forming in the rest of the body. The new study is published online Feb. 21 in PLoS ONE by Thomas Jefferson University researchers.

It appears that the hormone receptor guanylyl cyclase C (GC-C)—a previously identified tumor suppressor that exists in the intestinal tract—plays a key role in strengthening the body's intestinal barrier, which helps separate the gut world from the rest of the body, and possibly keeps cancer at bay. Without the receptor, that barrier weakens.

A team led by Scott Waldman, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Jefferson and director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Program at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center, discovered in a pre-clinical study that silencing GC-C in mice compromised the integrity of the intestinal barrier. It allowed inflammation to occur and cancer-causing agents to seep out into the body, damaging DNA and forming cancer outside the intestine, including in the liver, lung and lymph nodes.

Conversely, stimulating GC-C in intestines in mice strengthened the intestinal barrier opposing these pathological changes.