A probiotic for cancer prevention?

Biologists have taught fermented milk microbes to prevent intestinal cancer

RIA NewsAmerican biologists modified the genome of lactic acid Bacillus Lactobacillus acidophilus in such a way that this bacterium began to destroy polyps – precancerous formations in the colon of mice, and published a technique for growing such "bacillus doctors" in an article in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Khazaiea et al., Abating colon cancer polyposis by Lactobacillus acidophilus deficient in lipoteichoic acid, publicly available – VM).

To date, colon cancer is the fourth most common type of malignant tumors in the world. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, approximately 600 thousand people die from this disease every year, which is 8% of the total number of deaths caused by cancer. Colon cancer is considered an age–related disease - it affects mainly elderly men and women and its appearance is not associated with disorders in the genome.

Acid balanceA group of biologists led by Todd Klaenhammer from the University of Carolina in Raleigh (USA) drew attention to the fact that the development of polyps – precancerous formations – on the walls of the colon is accompanied by inflammation of its tissues.

As scientists explain, inflammatory processes are the result of increased activity of the immune system caused by the presence of bacteria, viruses or antigens – arbitrary chemical compounds of organic or inorganic nature. One of the most striking examples of this behavior is an allergy to plant pollen, wool or medicines.

According to Klenhammer and his colleagues, the main irritant of the immune system during the development of polyps is lipoteichoic acid – one of the components of the cell wall of the lactic acid Bacillus Lactobacillus acidophilus, which lives in this part of the human intestine. This compound directly affects the functioning of the human immune system – it activates immune cells by connecting with special receptors on its surface.

Therapeutic bacteriaScientists have studied the role of this compound in the development of polyps.

To do this, biologists bred a new strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus, in whose genome there was no gene responsible for the assembly of lipoteichoic acid molecules, and took mice vulnerable to colon cancer.

The researchers waited for the appearance of polyps in the intestines of rodents and divided them into two groups. In the food and water of the first group, biologists added cells of a new strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus, and other rodents fed on food with the addition of ordinary bacteria.

A month later, Klenhammer and his colleagues put the mice to sleep, dissected their intestines and compared the condition of their wards. It turned out that polyps in the intestines of rodents with "acid-free" bacteria decreased in size, and some formations disappeared altogether.

According to the researchers, bacterial therapy had a beneficial effect on the work of the intestinal immune system – traces of inflammation disappeared, the number of immune cells on the intestinal walls did not exceed normal values for completely healthy rodents.

Scientists believe that their bacteria and technique can also be used to prevent bowel cancer and alleviate the situation of cancer patients after appropriate clinical trials.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru13.06.2012