Gut microbiome tagged posts

Spinal cord injury can reshape gut microbes that influence whole-body health

The spinal cord is a major communication pathway between the brain and the rest of the body, including the gut, where trillions of microbes interact with the body’s largest collection of immune cells.
The spinal cord is a major communication pathway between the brain and the rest of the body, including the gut, where trillions of microbes interact with the body’s largest collection of immune cells.
Illustration: Getty Images/Science Photo Library

Scientists exploring the links between a spinal cord injury, inflammation and immune function have turned their attention to a genome-level analysis of the gut microbial community, with early study results offering hints at potential new approaches to aid healing.

In mice, refeeding a strain of bacteria that was depleted after spinal cord injury (SCI) lowered inflammation and stabilized weight loss...

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Secret to a healthy liver found in a young microbiome

human microbiome inside gut
Credit: AI-generated image

Restoring the gut microbiome to its youthful state may hold the key to slowing aging and preventing liver cancer, one of the fastest-growing cancers worldwide, according to a study to be presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW 2026).

Researchers collected fecal samples from eight young mice and transplanted them back into the same mice when they were older, a process called fecal microbiota transplantation, or FMT. The eight controls received sterilized fecal slurry, and a small group of similar young mice provided additional baseline data.

None of the mice with the restored microbiome developed liver cancer by the end of the study, while liver cancer was found in 2 out of 8 aging controls...

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Negative effects of artificial sweeteners may pass on to next-generation, study suggests

artificial sweetener
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Health organizations are starting to raise concerns about the potential long-term impacts of artificial sweeteners, which taste sweet but—unlike sugar—contain no calories, suggesting they could interfere with energy metabolism and increase the eventual risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

Now a new study in mice indicates that the popular sweeteners sucralose and stevia have negative effects on the gut microbiome and gene expression, potentially compromising metabolic health, which can be transmitted between generations.

“We found it intriguing that despite the growing consumption of these additives, the prevalence of obesity and metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance has not declined,” said Dr...

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Turning the gut microbiome into a longevity factory

New research finds that low doses of the antibiotic cephalordine induces the cps operon in bacteria, visualized in red. This operon is responsible for synthesizing colanic acids, resulting in attenuation of age-related metabolic changes. Credit: Meng Wang

A team of researchers has found a way to turn the bacteria living in the digestive tracts of animals into factories that can produce compounds that promote longevity in their hosts—showing a potential new drug development strategy.

Janelia Senior Group Leader Meng Wang and her team study longevity and were interested in seeing how they could transfer their research findings about longevity-promoting compounds into practical applications.

One idea they had was to induce the body’s gut microbiota—a collection of bacteria in th...

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