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| Stomach pain and diarrhea are common symptoms of Crohn's disease. |
Perhaps Most people do not know this disease, but it has hurt millions.
A fungus, usually found in the follicles of the human hair, was discovered in the gut where, according to a study published in Cell Host & Microbe, it may aggravate intestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel diseases in patients with Specific genetic mutation.
Inflammatory bowel diseases and in particular Crohn's disease Are characterized by changes in the immune response to the intestinal microbiome. While Most studies on Microbioma focus on bacteria, the group of David Underhill from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles investigated the presence of fungi and their potential role in Crohn's disease.
"It Was surprising to us when we found that the Malassezia restricta fungus (found mostly in oily skin and in the follicles of the scalp) was more common on the surfaces of bowel tissues with Crohn's disease, compared to of healthy people. In Addition, his presence there was associated with a common mutation in a gene that is considered important for immunity to fungi, a genetic signature more frequent in patients with Crohn's disease, "says Dr. Underhill, one of the authors of the study.
Changes in bowel fungi, such as M. Restricta and the host's response to these fungi, may be a factor in worsening symptoms that contribute to the disease in a subset of Crohn's disease sufferers, complements the Jose Limon, member of the research team of the study.
The researchers had initially found that these fungi exist in the microbiome of mice and that the organism's immunity towards them helps in the fight against inflammation of the intestine.
Examining the existence of the fungus in the intestinal mucosa of both healthy people and Crohn's disease sufferers, researchers identified a significantly greater number in patients with Crohn's disease and specifically those who carry a genetic mutation , known as the CARD9 allele risk gene, which enhances the ability of human immune cells to derive inflammatory cytokines as a reaction to M. Restricta.
"The data so far does not indicate that the presence of Malassezia fungus in the gut is inherently bad. We tracked Him to some healthy people and mice and he doesn't seem to be causing any intestinal disease on his own, "notes Dr. Underhill and concludes: "If, however, there is some intestinal inflammation, the Malassezia fungus seems to aggravate it".
The Next steps include exploring whether eliminating this fungus from the intestinal microbiome in this subset of patients with Crohn's disease relieves their symptoms.
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