The monumental amount of research into the microbiome continues to prove the importance of a bacterial balance and diversity of species in the human body. However, it wasn’t all that long ago when bacteria were mostly considered to be infectious germs.
The study of these microbes goes far back in history. Even bacteria present in fecal matter was used to treat gastrointestinal and other issues in Chinese medicine dating back 1,700 years. In the 19th century, Louis Pasteur’s germ theory determined that bacteria caused certain diseases. With the recent realization that more health benefits than ever imagined possible are being attributed to the good bacteria in the microbiome, today it’s more like “germ therapy,” including treatments using fecal transplants.
One of the body systems in which bacteria play a very supportive role is the immune system. The majority of protective immune cells are located in the gut. A communicative relationship exists between these defensive cells and the intestinal bacteria that influence systemic immunity.
Getting down to some immune-specific action, a study published in Nature (2024) revealed that bacteria can unite to produce small proteins that figuratively grab viruses by the tail. This inhibits their proper assembly and, therefore, infectious potential.
It’s the tail of the infecting virus (phage) that is essential for producing more viruses and infecting cells of the host. By attaching their ubiquitin-like proteins to the tails, bacteria make viruses produce tailless offspring or fully assembled progeny that are less infectious, which reduces their capability to infect other cells. This kind of detailed immune activity of bacteria makes for a remarkable tale, which has a long way to go before the entire story is told.
AIM For Microbiome Health
Nutrition that works includes a number of supplements that support the microorganisms that support the health of the digestive system, including FloraFood that increases the population of good bacteria, Fit ’n Fiber that feeds good bacteria, Herbal Fiberblend that cleanses and detoxifies the intestinal tract and PrepZymes that assists digestion (for more information, read Digestive Energy From PrepZymes in this edition of AIM News).
The AIM Companies 