Scientists from the University of New South Wales in Australia have found a new strain of mouth bacteria that is associated with more severe cases of Ulcerative Colitis. This new bacteria is called ‘pSma1’ from the Campylobacter concisus family that usually lives in the mouth. It is actually classified as a plasmid to be more specific. This means it lives inside the DNA of the bacterial cell, but is outside the bacteria’s chromosomal DNA. It is also considered a mobile genetic element, so it has high transferability from other cells and even other species. Let’s take a look at what these scientists found and what it could mean for the future of IBD care.
This newly found plasmid is very small and only contains two genes of its own, but has been found to have a copy of 60 per cell. This makes it very easy to copy and accelerates the colonization of the bacteria at a rapid rate. Every day we introduce a host of new bacteria cells through saliva, food, and drinks. Most of the time any bad bacteria are killed by stomach acid and other digestive juices, but the mouth is constantly introducing new bacteria. This is the problem, if there is too much bad bacteria it may not all be killed by your body’s acids. It then makes a cozy home in your gut and colonizes causing a host of problems. These plasmids in particular attribute to the severity and harmfulness of the multiplying bacteria.
As for the find itself, the genomes examined were a small sample size, but is a promising lead to potential new discoveries about UC or its treatment. The pSma1 bacterial strain was found in 28 patients with severe ulcerative colitis. This made 62 strains for those tested with UC. In total, they examined 146 people worldwide, making 239 C. concisus strains to review. At UNSW, Dr. Zhang has been studying the link between mouth bacteria and gut health for over a decade. Even she was surprised by the characteristics of this newly found plasmid. She speculates that these plasmids have a high virulence factor, making them more harmful. This find could help scientists explain why some people with severe UC don’t respond well to traditional drug therapies, as well as serving as a marker for how the disease will progress.
Dr. Zhang would like to explore this research further with a larger sample size. If the plasmid is found to be the origin of UC, it could lead to a new target for new drug therapies. This could easily translate to new drug development and maybe even prevention of Ulcerative Colitis. By using medications to target this mouth bacteria you could greatly reduce the load of bad bacteria to the gut. This could greatly improve UC symptoms in patients that have not had success with traditional medications.
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