Newsbriefs: UTI; FMTs; Alzheimer’s Diet; Heart Attack Risk
Treating UTIs Without Antibiotics.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found that E. coli bacteria that live in the gut cause most urinary tract infections (UTIs). When shed in feces, the bacteria can spread to the opening of the urinary tract and up to the bladder. There, the bacteria attach to a sugar called mannose attached to the surface of the bladder. Researchers modified mannose to create molecules called mannosides, which do not attach to the bladder wall, but are flushed out with urine. In tests, researchers gave mice doses of mannoside and found that the disease-causing bacteria, which attached themselves to the mannosides, were almost entirely eliminated from the bladder, and reduced from 100 million per sample to one million per sample in the gut. The mannoside treatment had minimal effect on intestinal bacteria except for the UTI-causing bacteria. Antibiotic treatment, conversely, also sweeps away “good” bacteria, leaving space for more dangerous microbes to invade. Researchers say that human studies are now needed. UTIs affect about 100 million people annually worldwide (Nature, June 14, 2017.)
FMTs Have Long-Lasting Effects.
Fecal microbiota transplants (FMTs), which restore healthy micbrobial gut flora to people suffering from diarrhea and colitis resulting from Clostridium difficile infection, have been found to linger in recipients for up to two years after a transplant, University of Alabama researchers found. FMTs have been 90 percent successful in preventing recurrences of C.diff infections, a greater success rate than achieved with antibiotics. Researchers identified a microbe “fingerprint,” which could lead to tracking certain changes in humans’ microbiome as disease predictors, since disturbances in the microbiome can affect overall health, researchers say. (npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, online, June 7, 2017.)
Unhealthy Diet + Alzheimer’s Gene May Drive AD.
People who carry the ApoE4 gene, a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, and consume a diet high in cholesterol, fat, and sugar may be increasing their risk for AD, according to a new study from the University of Southern California. The study aimed to investigate the link between obesity and AD, both of which are linked to inflammation. Researchers compared the effects of an unhealthy diet on two groups of mice, one with the AD-associated ApoE4 gene and the other with the ApoE3 gene. After consuming the unhealthy diet, the mice with the ApoE4 gene had more Alzheimer’s plaques in their brain than the other group. The plaques are a marker for inflammation, and inhibit cognition and memory. The ApoE4 gene is found in 10 to 15 percent of the population. (eneuro, June 2017.)
One Bioresorbable Stent May Raise Heart Attack Risk.
Bioresorbable stents were designed to avert the risk of blood clots prompted by metal stents dissolving over time. In March, the FDA issued a warning to physicians that one of these new stents—the Absorb GT1—may increase the risk of a heart attack or other major cardiac event, particularly when the stent is placed in a small artery. The Xience bioresorbable stent appears to be safer. In an analysis of two-year data from the ABSORB III trial presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 2017 Scientific Sessions, 11 percent of Absorb stents failed where they were implanted, compared with 7.9 percent of Xience stents. And, the risk of heart attack was 7.3 percent with the Absorb stent and 4.9 percent with the Xience stent. The risk of a blood clot in the stent was 1.9 percent with Absorb and 0.8 percent with Xience.
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