Bug guts map brings scientists closer to understanding different bugs' role i...(ne the makeup and function of a persons ...),Health

The new study brings researchers closer to creating this system of translating the makeup of a persons gut bugs by analysing their metabolic profile.

The research gives scientists a much better idea of which bugs are particularly key. For example, the researchers found that a common friendly species of gut bug known as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii was statistically linked to the presence of eight diverse chemicals involved in metabolism, suggesting that this bug plays a key role in co-regulating multiple metabolic processes.

Professor Jeremy Nicholson, lead author of the study from the Department of Biomolecular Medicine at Imperial College London, explained: Its now widely recognised that gut bugs play an important part in peoples health but we dont know which of the hundreds of different species of gut microbes have the biggest influence on us, or exactly how they are involved in the thousands of processes inside the body. Our new study has enabled us to see and map to a greater extent than ever before how the bugs interact with the body.

Now we have developed a new way of exploring the connections between bugs and man we can hope to find a Rosetta Stone to translate the functional properties of the bugs and so improve therapies to treat disorders of the gut and related conditions, he added.

The study also showed that the Chinese individuals had different bacteria at the species level to the five American individuals profiled in previous studies. This suggests that there are significant differences in the metabolisms of people from the two countries, which are not just down to their own genetic makeup. The researchers suggest that these differences should be taken into account when looking at peoples risks of different diseases
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