Gut bacteria study could lead to new Crohn's treatments, researchers say

Ottawa researchers are hopeful the results of a new study into the dynamics of human gut bacteriacould potentially lead to more successful treatments for patients withCrohn'sdisease.

The study, which appeared Wednesday in the journalNature Communications, suggests that Crohn's disease a painful inflammatory disease of the bowel could be linked to the bacterial ecosystem found in the gut.

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"That's what we've found,that it's thismassiveinteraction happening," said David Mack, director of the inflammatory bowel disease centre at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and one of the study's co-authors, on CBC Radio'sAll In A Day.

"To thinkit's [caused by] a single bacteria,that's been sort of tossed around for decades and has never really panned out. But I think looking at the community of bacteria, and what they do, interactingwith the patients, is the key thing."

Pro-inflammatory bacteria

Approximately130,000 people in Canada suffer from Crohn's, which can causenausea, diarrhea,rectalbleedingand abdominal pain. The disease currently has no cure.

Mack's research team which also included researchers from the University of Ottawa's faculty of medicine and the University of Florida found that Crohn's patients had significantly fewer protective microorganisms that produce butyrate, an anti-inflammatory fatty acid.

Those same patients also had higher numbers of gut bacteria known to produce pro-inflammatory agents like hydrogen sulfide, according to the study. Crohn's sufferers also hada decreased ability to detoxify that hydrogen sulfide in their intestinal lining.

The team was also able to showthat the bacteriaAtopobiumparvulum, a potent producer of hydrogensulfide, induces severe colitis and that in order to doso, the bacteriaalso requires the presence of other microbes already living in the patient's gut.

'Brand new paradigm'

Mack said the study's findings could shift the way doctors treat Crohn's patients away from steroids and immunosuppressants, which work reasonably well but can also cause a number ofside effects.

"We don't know as much about long-term effects, especially if we give them to kids. So we're always looking for new ways [to treat the disease]," said Mack.

Some of those futureCrohn's treatments could involve targeting the gut's bacterial ecosystem, said Mack,while also placing more emphasis on managingpatients' diets.

"It's a brand new paradigm of thinking. It's going to be hard, because there's 10 times more bacteria in our bodies than there are cells in the body," said Mack.

"So what we do to the bacteria, we sure don't want to translate into problems with the patients."