May 4, 2024

Mucus-Eating Gut Bacteria May Promote Fever After Cancer Treatment

The research study authors reveal that these microorganisms thin the mucous layer in mice, possibly exposing hosts to further bacterial infections– a finding that tips at possible ways to stave off treatment-related fevers in humans.See “Gut Fungi Hamper Radiation Therapy in Mice with Cancer” Previous work had actually hinted that infections originating in the gut can be a major source of bacterial infections in the bloodstream, and scientists have observed associations between modifications in gut microbiota and neutropenic fever. They discovered that numerous of those who established fever over the very first days of neutropenia had an increased relative abundance of A. muciniphila and Bacteroides genera in their gut microbiomes, both of which are understood to deteriorate mucin, a crucial part of the mucous layer.Schematic of histological colonic mucous layerJENNIFER KARMOUCH AND SAIRA AHMEDThe group then figured out whether radiation treatment or chemotherapy modifies the microbiome structure of mice.” Despite the increased relative abundance of Akkermansia in the gut microbiomes of more than half of the clients who established a neutropenic fever, the study shows that Akkermansia levels alone can not anticipate if a patient with neutropenia will establish fever, as some cancer clients with fevers had low Akkermansia counts, and some without fevers had high levels of the germs.

The research study authors show that these microbes thin the mucous layer in mice, potentially exposing hosts to more bacterial infections– a finding that tips at possible methods to stave off treatment-related fevers in humans.See “Gut Fungi Hamper Radiation Therapy in Mice with Cancer” Previous work had actually hinted that infections coming from in the gut can be a major source of bacterial infections in the bloodstream, and scientists have actually observed associations in between changes in gut microbiota and neutropenic fever. They found that numerous of those who developed fever over the very first days of neutropenia had actually an increased relative abundance of A. muciniphila and Bacteroides genera in their gut microbiomes, both of which are known to break down mucin, a crucial component of the mucus layer.Schematic of histological colonic mucus layerJENNIFER KARMOUCH AND SAIRA AHMEDThe team then identified whether radiation treatment or chemotherapy alters the microbiome composition of mice.” Despite the increased relative abundance of Akkermansia in the gut microbiomes of more than half of the patients who developed a neutropenic fever, the research study shows that Akkermansia levels alone can not predict if a patient with neutropenia will develop fever, as some cancer clients with fevers had low Akkermansia counts, and some without fevers had high levels of the germs.