Nat Microbiol: regulation of norovirus infection by intestinal microorganisms

Recommended meeting of editor: 2019 Development Forum of clinical mass spectrometry and high-end medical testing November 27, 2019 news / BIOON / -- highly infectious norovirus can cause diarrhea and vomiting, and is notorious for its rapid spread in densely populated spaces Each year, the virus kills about 200000 people, most of them in developing countries However, there is no treatment for this enterovirus Recently, a new study led by scientists at Washington University School of medicine in St Louis shows that the severity of norovirus infection can be suppressed or increased depending on the location of the virus in the gut The study, published on November 25 in the journal Nature microbiology, provides a new approach to the possible treatment of norovirus infection Dr Megan t Baldridge, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington, said: "norovirus is easily transmitted through feces and mouth, and is particularly dangerous in young children, the elderly and people with impaired immune systems We are trying to understand how gut microbes interact with norovirus in order to find new therapeutic strategies " In a mouse based study, the researchers found that normal gut bacteria exacerbated the severity of lower intestinal virus infection But at the same time, normal intestinal bacteria can block or inhibit the virus infection in the upper part of the small intestine In other words, intestinal microorganisms may have the opposite effect on norovirus infection, depending on the specific location of the infection in the gut "The results show that different areas of the gut respond differently to this type of infection Our research shows that we can't think of the gut as a uniform system for a unified response to infection " Furthermore, the author found that the difference was driven by bile acid, which is famous for its role in digestion "Bile acids are strongly regulated by bacteria throughout the gut But no one has realized that these bile acids can trigger the gut immune response to enteroviruses " (image source: www Pixabay Com) in this new study, researchers showed that bile acids in the upper part of the small intestine, rather than the lower part, stimulate the immune system to respond to infection The researchers found that bile acids in specific parts of the gut trigger a molecule called interferon III Baldridge pointed out that the complexity of the interaction between intestinal microorganisms and bile acids could explain some of the variability in norovirus infection Some people are very ill with the virus Others have no symptoms at all "The different ways people react to viral infection may be related to their respective gut microbiome." The authors believe that this study has changed the way researchers think about strategies to prevent or treat norovirus infection She and her colleagues are planning more research to help investigate whether there is a way to manipulate the gut environment through bile acids or the microbiome itself, so that the immune system can be stimulated by shutting down norovirus infection Sources of information: got microbes alter characteristics of norovirus infection original sources: Katrina R Grau, Shu Zhu, Stefan T Peterson, Emily W helm, Drake Philip, Matthew Phillips, Abel Hernandez, Holly turula, Philip frasse, Vincent R Graziano, Craig B wilen, Christian E wobus, Megan t Baldridge, Stephanie M Karst The intestinal regionalization of acute norovirus infection is regulated by the microbiota via bile acid-mediated priming of type III interferon Nature Microbiology , 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41564-019-0602-7