Microbiome

The scientific community is increasingly aware of the large impact that the human microbiome has on our overall health. Characteristics of people’s microbiomes can impact their weight and susceptibility to mental and physical diseases. A recent article in the Annual Review examined some interactions between the gut microbiome and drugs that treat mental disorders. Many of the symptoms that are associated with antipsychotic drugs, such as weight gain, are likely caused by the effect that these drugs have on our microbiome. The use of VPA, a drug that treats seizures and mood swings, in pregnant women is associated with an altered microbiome in their children and an increased risk for autism. This type of research could reveal ways that we could alter the microbiome to treat mental disorders rather than using drugs. Even if this development will not come for many years, it is important to understand how the microbiome impacts the way that drugs effect people now.

              The microbiome is also associated with obesity, and an article analyzed recent research about the association between the microbiome of obese pregnant women and the microbiome of their children when they are born. Obese mothers had higher levels of microorganisms from the phyla Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria, and their infants also had higher levels of microorganisms from these phyla. Both the mothers and infants had lower levels of Bifidobacteria. However, these associations are not entirely conclusive because different studies had results that varied too greatly. The connection between the mother’s and infant’s microbiota imply that maternal obesity could increase the risk of their child becoming obese. Maternal obesity also increases the number of facultative anaerobes in the infant’s microbiome, which could delay the child’s microbiome development.

              Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is also influenced by people’s microbiota, and an article from Science Direct examines the some of the influential factors. Previous studies failed to find a specific correlation because they only focused on individual types of bacteria, but in reality, RA is caused by the interaction of several factors, and the microbiome is just one of these. Some of the most influential microorganisms in the development of RA are P. gingivalis, A. actinomyetemcomitans, and P. copri. Many of the microorganisms found in the oral microbiota of patients with RA correlated with the microorganisms associated with periodontitis. Cigarette smoking was a pre-established risk factor for RA, and pulmonary microbiota interact with this factor, possibly serving as a mediator. RA may originate in the lungs, and distinct differences between the microbiomes of patients with RA and their relatives supports this theory.