How food poisoning could trigger chronic gut trouble

REPEATED bouts of food poisoning may trigger ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease.

Researchers at universities in the U. S. and Germany infected mice with small doses of salmonella bacteria, causing only mild symptoms. After being infected four times, all the mice developed colitis. It’s thought the infection wiped out an enzyme that helps reduce toxicity of certain chemicals in the gut.

The good news, report the researchers in the journal Science, is that cases could be prevented using drugs to increase enzyme levels.