Study: For Each 10% Increase Of Bacteria Type In The Gut, Risk Of Hospitalization For Infection Falls By Up To A Quarter

 A study of two large European patient cohorts has found that for every 10% increase in butyrate-producing bacteria in a patient's gut, the risk of hospitalization for any infection falls by between 14 and 25% across two large national cohorts.

Microbiota alterations are common in patients hospitalized for severe infections and preclinical models have shown that anaerobic butyrate-producing gut bacteria protect against systemic infections.

Gut microbiota were characterized by sequencing the DNA of bacteria to identify the different types of bacteria present in fecal samples of the participants.

Gut microbiota composition of these hospitalized/deceased participants differed from those without hospitalization for infections.

Specifically, each 10% higher abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria was associated with a reduced risk of hospitalization for infections-25% lower for participants from the Dutch cohort and 14% lower for the Finnish cohort.

The authors say, "Gut microbiome composition, specifically colonization with butyrate-producing bacteria, is associated with protection against hospitalization for infectious diseases in the general population across two independent European cohorts. Further studies should investigate whether modulation of the microbiome can reduce the risk of severe infections."

One of the challenges is the face are the butyrate-producing bacteria are strictly anaerobic, which makes it very difficult to transport viable bacteria into the gut. 

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-bacteria-gut-hospitalization-infection-falls.html