A microbial health index from 893 adults moved with fibre, Mediterranean diet adherence, fitness and blood lipids. The cross-sectional design cannot show direction, while yeast fibre reprogrammed immune cells in mice.
Science··Morning
The index compares 97 health-linked variants with 31 disease-linked variants
Researchers calculated a microbial health index from 16S sequencing collected during annual check-ups of 893 adults. The single number is based on the ratio of 97 bacterial variants associated with health to 31 associated with disease. It moved with fibre intake, adherence to a Mediterranean diet, fitness-test results and blood lipids. The data came from electronic patient files, laboratory tests, cardiac stress tests and lifestyle questionnaires. Because the study is cross-sectional, it cannot show whether those features changed the microbiome or whether the microbiome affected those features.[1]
One number compresses differences among bacteria
A team from Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Medicine, the Microbiome Center at Sheba Medical Center and Cincinnati Children's Hospital conducted the study, which appeared in Gut Microbes. The composite index gathers changes in individual bacterial variants into one value. That may make a broad microbial pattern easier to follow, but different bacterial compositions can produce the same score. According to the report, the present design cannot establish how the number should change a clinical decision for an individual. The authors' estimates about dose also rely on previously published intervention studies rather than on this cross-sectional dataset.[1]
Yeast fibre reprogrammed immune cells in mouse bone marrow
In a separate experiment, a Trinity College Dublin team fed mice yeast beta-glucan for 4 to 12 weeks before exposing them to colorectal, skin and breast cancer cells. The supplement reprogrammed early immune cells in bone marrow to produce a stronger and longer-lasting response to tumours. It also reversed immune damage that persisted in obese mice after weight loss. The peer-reviewed work appeared in Cell Reports, but every experiment was conducted in mice. The team says the next question is whether the same immune effect appears in people; the findings do not support taking beta-glucan supplements against cancer.[2]
