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By: Suzanne Canada, Ph.D.
Tanager Medical Writing
While you go about your day, you are surrounded by micro-organisms. Although most of us spend a lot of time washing up and trying not to think about the propensity of creatures that share our personal space, scientists have been studying them. Due to their great progress, we are reaching an understanding of how these bacteria and fungi affect our bodies’ functions [1]. The evidence indicates that this inner-ecosystem can not only cause disease if perturbed, but also influence our overall health! Organisms including Escherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori, Streptococcus thermophilus, and species of Clostridia, Lactobacillus, and Bacterioides inhabit our gut. Corynebacterium jeikeium as well as Staphylococcus species live on our skin, and other Streptococci as well as Neisseria and Candida albicans inhabit our mouth and upper respiratory system [2]. The makeup and diversity of organisms has been found to be strongly influenced, not only by what you eat [3], but also by who you live with [4, 5]. With greater understanding of this rich soup of life that we carry with us, the microbiome has become the new frontier in cutting-edge drug development [6].
In the last three years, research into the molecular basis of microbial influence has blossomed. The first and most obvious application for this information was in treating C. difficile infections; which result from overgrowth of the opportunistic pathogen after an antibiotic regimen or hospital stay. Researchers found that fecal transplants from a healthy individual were an effective way to treat this potentially fatal infection [7, 8]. The role of intestinal microbes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) has been established [9] in the last year or two. Based on this knowledge, possible treatments for IBD, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, are in development. Other publications point to microbes’ role in inflammation of the skin and respiratory tract, including acne [10]and asthma[11]. More excitement has been generated as investigators have found links to other chronic diseases including diabetes [12, 13], hypertension [14, 15], and chronic liver disease [16]. Preliminary investigations suggest a connection between overall gut microbial composition and obesity [17]. Some studies in mouse models have even linked the microbiome to the neurological conditions of Alzheimer’s [18] and autism [19, 20].
With all this research going on, you need a great resource like LIST Biological Laboratories, with experience and expertise with microbial products spanning over 25 years. LIST has several products available that can serve as positive controls for your microbial research. Potent toxins from C. difficile are available (LIST products #157, #158), as well as antibodies that aid in their detection (LIST products #753, #754). Lipopolysaccharides are also available, which cause inflammation and activation of immune signaling cascades, and are extracted from bacterial cell walls of E. coli O111:B4, O55:B5, O157:H7, J5 and K12; Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella minnesota and Bordetella pertussis. Other acute immune system activators such as Staphylococcal toxins (LIST products #120, #122) and Shiga toxins (LIST products #161 & #162) are also available.
In case the assortment of purified bacterial products on hand are insufficient for your research needs, LIST also provides contract manufacturing for biotherapeutics, as well as microbial purification services.
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