The gut cure for fatigue
Bacteria pinpointed in Irish study seen to fight range of debilitating conditions
SUFFERERS of chronic fatigue syndrome and a range of other conditions could be cured – using bacteria found in the human gut.
Irish scientists isolated a specific bacterium from the gut of a healthy woman, which they now believe could ease the pain of thousands of patients.
Their study shows that the probiotic – referred to as bifodobacterium 35624 – reduced markers of inflammation in the body in a patient group with chronic fatigue syndrome, bowel condition ulcerative colitis and skin condition psoriasis.
About 100 patients with all three conditions have a higher presence of proteins in their blood linked to inflammation. However, those protein levels dropped within six weeks of taking the probiotic – indicating the inflammation had eased.
Symptoms of debilitating CFS include physical exhaustion, muscle and joint pain, sore throat, headaches, and poor concentration.
The condition can last for several years and some 12,000 Irish people – many of them bedridden by it – are believed to be affected.
The probiotic was originally iso- lated by University College Cork researchers from the gut of a woman undergoing surgery in the 1990s.
They were interested in understanding how the gut microbes of healthy patients interacted with the immune system.
Scientists from Alimentary Health, which developed an ingestible form of the bacteria, and doctors from University College Cork were among the researchers on the l atest project, which showed the probiotic may be useful particularly in the fight against the fatigue disorder. An Alimentary Health spokesman said: ‘It has been shown to reduce inflammation in these patients. CFS patients, like ulcerative colitis and psoriasis patients, are in an elevated state of inflammation.
‘Our work has shown that consumption of B. infantis 35624 for four to six weeks reduced levels of inflammatory markers in CFS and, in particular, of C-reactive protein, an important clinical indicator.’
Alimentary Health’s focus is on the discovery and development of safe and therapeutic products for management of chronic inflammatory conditions including irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and infectious diseases such as C. difficile. The Irish ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Association welcomed the new Irish research.
Tom Kindlon, a spokesman for the association, claimed CFS sufferers have been ‘ almost completely ignored’ by the Irish research community to date.
He added: ‘While these particular results should be seen as preliminary – as the sample size was relatively small and it was the first trial to test this particular type of bacteria in CFS – we are pleased that research has been done on Irish CFS patients, one of the first studies ever to do so.’