Two new strains in one building block
We recently added a new building block that this time consists of two new strains: an Enterococcus faecium and a Bacillus subtilis strain. These two strains are the active ingredients of a drug that has been marketed and extensively researched in Asia. For example, a meta-analysis of 53 RCTs shows that this combination of strains is effective in ulcerative colitis (1). This meta-analysis also provides direct evidence for an effect on inflammation. RCTs also show evidence for an effect on abdominal pain and IBS (2,3), and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)(4), and a retrospective study provides evidence for an effect in antibiotic-associated diarrhea (5). Other evidence and information about this building block can be found in the description of this ingredient in our system.
Important mechanisms behind chronic diseases
In the previous flash of knowledge, it was discussed that almost 10 million Dutch people have one or more chronic conditions. Two important mechanisms in chronic diseases are insulin resistance and systemic low-grade inflammation. These mechanisms are best known in the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, but it doesn’t stop there. They play a role in (almost) all chronic conditions. To illustrate, some (perhaps unexpected) examples of this are depression (6-8), rheumatism (9,10), and ME/CFS (11,12). Both insulin resistance and systemic low-grade inflammation are directly related to the microbiome (13-16). It can therefore be concluded that it is useful to take these two important mechanisms and the role of the microbiome into account in the therapeutic regimen in all chronic diseases.
References:
- https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v6.i15.961
- https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.12544
- http://www.kjg.or.kr/journal/view.html?uid=3648&vmd=Full
- https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v25.i17.2110
- https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000020631
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2019.01.016
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00057
- https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291719001454
- https://doi.org/10.1002/art.38986
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2016.136
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607571113
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00078
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ar2017.10.003
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0884533615609896
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2017.09.008
- https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.1601621