Leaky gut
Our gut has different roles. It must absorb nutrients from food, but at the same time prevent anything harmful entering the body. Bacteria and other microbes on our food cause illness if they invade our bloodstream and tissues. This makes the lining of the gut one of the key battlefields in our defences.
Behind the walls of the gut, our immune system is especially primed. And on the other side of this important barrier we produce a layer of mucus that helps prevent bacteria getting to our gut lining.
To help in the fight, we recruit a vast army of other bacteria that can benefit our health, or at least help keep the bad ones at bay. Cleverly, the mucus we make helps the beneficial bacteria thrive. The Quadram Institute has researchers who are studying exactly how this mucus is made and how its makeup favours the good bacteria.
That’s because if the mucus barrier breaks down, microbes can start to interact with the cells lining the gut. And this is where problems might start to occur.
Leaky gut is a term used for when the lining of the gut breaks down so that contents start to cross into the body outside of the normal controls. Bacteria and other microbes in the wrong place cause health problems – even those that might have been beneficial contained in the gut.
The causes of leaky gut aren’t fully known and are likely to be complex involving a number of factors. It’s prevalent in a number of diseases of the gut and is sometimes associated with infections.
At the Quadram Institute we are using our expertise in microbiology, immunology and gut health to see whether leaky gut might be behind chronic long-term conditions. In particular we are investigating whether leaky gut might be involved in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).
This is a severely debilitating condition that is thought to affect up to 250,000 people in the UK. Symptoms include widespread pain, extreme tiredness and an inability to concentrate. Its causes aren’t known and there are no effective treatments.
Our research in ME/CFS builds on recent evidence that ME/CFS has a basis in the immune system. Our focus is on the interactions between the immune system and the microbes in the gut. Many ME sufferers also have gut-related conditions and several studies have recorded altered microbial communities. We are studying whether microbes being presented to the immune system abnormally potentially triggers an autoimmune response.
This research has been supported by the charity, Invest in ME Research, who, as well as raising funds for biomedical research are working to raise awareness of the condition and supporting collaborative efforts across the EU to tackle ME.
Invest in ME Research are supporting high quality biomedical research at QI and elsewhere. This is needed to provide the strongest possible evidence for the causes of complex conditions like ME/CFS. Without this evidence, it’s impossible to develop reliable treatments that work for all.
