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Sometimes intuition is taken literally
.
A new study from the University of Oregon shows that nerves in the gut help regulate the acidity of the gut
.
This helps keep the bacterial community in balance
"We found an unexpected link between the enteric nervous system and the gut microbiome," said UO microbiologist Karen Guillemin
.
"The nervous system is regulating microbes
Gillette led the new work with Ohio State neuroscientist Judith Eisen
.
They published their findings Feb.
Scientists have known for years that gut bacteria are important to digestive health
.
Other studies have also demonstrated a strong connection between the gut and the brain
To make this connection, Eisen and Gillette studied a zebrafish with a genetic mutation that caused the loss of nerves in the gut
.
In humans, mutations in this gene have been linked to Hirschsprung disease, which disrupts the development of the enteric nervous system and can lead to severe intestinal inflammation
Eisen and Guillemin have previously shown that zebrafish lacking intestinal nerves have similar inflammation
.
But understanding the source of inflammation can be tricky: There are many factors that affect gut health, from diet and exercise to genetics
Input: Zebrafish
.
"A lot of conditions lead to inflammation in the gut, and it's hard to tell apart in a population," Eisen said
Postdoctoral researcher Kristi Hamilton came with a hunch—she suspected that the diseased zebrafish might have something wrong with their gut pH
.
Sure enough, when she fed zebrafish larvae an acid infection, the guts of zebrafish without gut nerves were more acidic
Giving fish a heartburn medication called omeprazole (omeprazole is commonly known as omeprazole) can relieve stomach acid and restore bacterial balance
.
On the other hand, they found that giving zebrafish a drug that increases acidity (acetazolamide, used to treat altitude sickness, epilepsy and many other conditions) had the opposite effect
.
This resulted in an excess of Vibrio in the zebrafish in the otherwise healthy gut
.
The findings suggest that nerves in the gut not only control gut contractions, but also help regulate gut acidity, ensuring healthy bacterial populations
.
For these researchers, following their intuition paid off, giving them a new understanding of what good intuition means
.
article title
Enteric nervous system modulation of luminal pH modifies the microbial environment to promote intestinal health
