A yeast of mushrooms found in cheese and other foods can wreak havoc on the intestines of people with Crohn’s disease, according to new findings. In a study published on Thursday, researchers found evidence that Crohn’s patients are more likely to carry that yeast than people without the disease, and that this yeast is linked to slow-healing intestinal wounds that patients tend to have. If valid, the findings could lead to new treatments and preventive measures for the chronic and painful condition.
Crohn’s is one of the best known versions of inflammation bowel disease (IBD). There is no clear cause for IBD, but it is suspected that genetics and a malfunction of the immune system play an important role. Patients experience a wide range of gastrointestinal symptoms, mostly caused by chronic inflammation of the intestine, which appear and disappear as outbreaks of the disease. These include diarrhea, fever, severe cramps and weight loss. Although there are medications that can control the symptoms along with diets to help people avoid the possible triggers of an episode, few sufferers have sustained remission.
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic and elsewhere have been studying Crohn’s for a while, hoping to find something that could help explain how and why the gut becomes so damaged in these patients. Their new research, published In Science, it indicates a possible culprit: a fungus called Debaryomyces hansenii.
The scientists studied mice that were created to develop Crohn’s-like symptoms, as well as biopsied samples of intestinal tissue from people diagnosed with Crohn’s. In both groups, they found an abundance of D. hansenii around injured or inflamed tissue, but not in samples taken from healthy people or in the non-inflamed tissue of Crohn’s patients.
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They found fungi in all seven samples taken from a group of Crohn’s patients, for example, but only in one of the 10 healthy controls used as a comparison. They also found evidence that this yeast was directly linked to the slow healing of intestinal wounds in mice. And when they took mushroom samples from a Crohn’s patient or sick mice and gave them to a new group of healthy mice, the mice’s ability to heal intestinal wounds became more severe. This effect was then reversed when the mice received antifungal treatment.
All the combined findings, the researchers say, meet Koch’s postulates, a criterion scientists use to show that a particular microbe causes a specific set of symptoms. In other words, it suggests that D. hansenii he is not only a harmless spectator found in the courage of these patients, but an active source of trouble. At this time, it is not known how patients could be exposed to the fungus or whether yeast-rich foods such as cheese could be a source.
“It simply came to our notice then D. hansenii inhibits the repair of ulcers in the inner lining of the intestine in patients with Crohn’s disease, “said Gizmodo in an email to study author Thaddeus Stappenbeck, chair of the Department of Inflammation and Immunity at the Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic. This feature is a hallmark of many Crohn’s patients with moderate to severe disease.
According to their current theory, the fungal infection does not cause Crohn’s disease itself, Stappenbeck added. Rather, it “perpetuates the disease that has already been initiated.”
The findings are still based on a small group of patients and animal research, so they should not be seen as definitive proof of team theory. And even if they are right, Crohn’s and IBD in general will remain one complex disease with symptoms that cannot be fully explained by a single microbe. In the mice they studied, for example, the overgrowth of fungi occurred only after the mice were given antibiotics. Other research has sharp to antibiotics as a possible risk factor for Crohn’s, as they can disrupt the delicate microscopic environment of our gut, called the intestinal microbiome.
If future research continues to show a strong link between Crohn’s and D. hanseniiHowever, it could lead to important new treatments and strategies for managing the disease. “For patients with D. hansenii In their ulcers, we think about testing anti-fungal drugs, ”said Stappenbeck. “We hope this will also stimulate the development of anti-fungal with fewer side effects.”
Another area of research could involve directing the mode D. hansenii it seems to cause intestinal inflammation in the body, through a protein called CC5 which is produced by some immune cells. And since yeast is commonly found in cheese and other processed foods, it could be helpful for patients in general to avoid these foods, the researchers say. The team also intends to continue to study how yeast interacts with the gut microbiome and the immune systems of people with Crohn’s.
This article was updated with comments from one of the study’s authors.