A HARMLESS gut bacterium has yielded up a secret that could herald new treatments for inflammatory bowel disease and other chronic gut disorders.
The abundant gut bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron has an unexpected knack for soothing inflammation that occurs after the gut’s immune system has dealt with dangerous bacteria. The guts of patients with inflammatory bowel disease lack this response, so the hope is that it might be possible to treat the condition with drugs that mimic the bacterial trick, or even by simply eating the friendly bacteria.
Through experiments on cell cultures and in rats, Denise Kelly and her colleagues…
