Patients with Crohn’s had higher levels of Candida tropicalis, Escherichia coli, Serratia marcenscens
TUESDAY, Oct. 10, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Higher levels of Candida tropicalis, as well as Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens, are seen in patients with Crohn’s disease, indicating a role for the mycobiome in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study published online Oct. 4 in Digestive and Liver Disease.
Noting that most research on IBD has focused on bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract while overlooking fungus, Christopher L. Hager, and Mahmoud A. Ghannoum, Ph.D., from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, explored the fungal community in the gastrointestinal tract.
The researchers found that compared with healthy family members, patients with Crohn’s disease tended to have much higher levels of the fungus Candida tropicalis, as well as the bacteria Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens. These three organisms worked together to form robust biofilms, which were able to exacerbate intestinal inflammation.
“Efforts directed at development of new probiotics should take into consideration the recent findings showing that both bacteria and fungi are implicated in IBD. These studies clearly demonstrate that mycobiome/bacteriome interactions play an important role in the perpetuation of GI inflammation,” the authors write.
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