Tuesday 29 January 2013

GI Tract bacteria protect against autoimmune disease


Early life exposure to normal bacteria of the GI tract (gut microbes) protects against autoimmune disease in mice, according to research published on-line in the January 17 edition of Science.

The authors of the paper state that the findings support the so-called 'hygiene hypothesis,' which suggests that the dramatic increase in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases over the past 50 years results from changes in our exposure to microbes.

The reference is:

Janet G. M. Markle, Daniel N. Frank, Steven Mortin-Toth, Charles E. Robertson, Leah M. Feazel, Ulrike Rolle-Kampczyk, Martin von Bergen, Kathy D. McCoy, Andrew J. Macpherson, and Jayne S. Danska. Sex Differences in the Gut Microbiome Drive Hormone-Dependent Regulation of Autoimmunity. Science, January 17, 2013

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