Researchers May Have Finally Identified The Cause Of Crohn’s Disease
For the 565,000 Americans who suer from Crohn’s disease, the inammatory
bowel condition that causes abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss and fatigue, promising new research could mean better treatments are on the horizon.The authors of the study, published in the journal mBio, identied a fungus and two
bacteria that may be responsible for the development of Crohn’s Disease. Researchers are optimistic that this new information will help them design better therapies to tackle the disease.
What’s in your gut? CONTINUE READING BELOW
The study looked at the bacterial makeup of patients with Crohn’s disease, healthy family members of those patients, and also healthy strangers with no Crohn’s in their families. Researchers compared the gut proles
of those with Crohn’s disease to those living in the same household with similar genes and diets, which are also contributing factors to the development of the disease, as well as to the individuals with no family history of the disease.When analyzing fecal samples, they found high amounts of E. coli, Serratia
marcescens and Candida tropicalis in the patients with Crohn’s Disease signicantly more so than in the other two groups
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Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum, a professor and director of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western
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Reserve University and lead author of the study, explained in a press release:
“We already know that bacteria, in addition to genetic and dietary factors, play a major role in causing Crohn’s disease. Essentially, patients with Crohn’s Disease have abnormal immune responses to these bacteria, which inhabit the intestines of all people. While most researchers focus their investigations on these bacteria, few have examined the role of fungi, which are also present in everyone’s intestines.”
So what does this new research mean for those suering with Crohn’s Disease?
Ghannoum went on to explain the potential signicance:
“Our study adds signicant new information to understanding why some people develop Crohn’s disease. Equally important, it can result in a new generation of treatments, including medications and probiotics,which hold the potential for making qualitative and quantitative dierences in the lives of people suering from Crohn’s Disease.”
This is the rst time the bacteria Serratia marcescens and the fungus Candida tropicalis have been identied as joining E. coli in contributing to the disease. Additionally, the researchers found that the presence of benecial bacteria was signicantlylower in the Crohn’s Disease patients, backing up previous research
ndings. They also noted that there were signicant similarities in the “gut proles” of the Crohn’s Diseaseaected families that were very dierent
from the families with no Crohn’s Disease. Ghannoum does urge
caution when interpreting the new information:
“We have to be careful, though, and not solely attribute Crohn’s disease to the bacterial and fungal makeups of our intestines. For example, we know that family members also share diet and environment to
signicant degrees. Further research is needed to be even more specic
in identifying precipitators and contributors of Crohn’s Disease.Additional studies will be necessary as part of the process of designing new treatments based on this information.
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