PHILADELPHIA - Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to widespread bacterial infection or toxins in the blood damages tissues and organs. The right kind of gut bacteria may help in the fight against sepsis, found researchers from the
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, reporting in the journal
Cell Host & Microbe.
Previous research has shown that antibodies in the blood quickly respond to blood-borne bacteria in sepsis and that gut microbes normally trigger IgA antibody responses that block bacterial invasion in the gut.
David Allman, PhD, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and a postdoctoral fellow in his lab, Joel Wilmore, PhD, found that exposing mice to a unique, but natural, population of microbes that included several members of the Proteobacteria family led to increases in IgA levels in the blood. In addition, shifting the mouse gut to a Proteobacteria-rich microbiota led to IgA-mediated resistance to a widespread bacterial invasion that led to sepsis in control mice.
Based on these findings, the researchers plan to probe which specific IgA confers protection against sepsis and explore ways to use this knowledge to treat sepsis in humans. In the meantime, they urge caution against over-interpreting the new findings.
For more, read a summary by Cell Press.
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