Husna, Amity University Kolkata
Intestinal epithelial tight junctions (TJs) act as a barrier to protect against harmful antigens which promote inflammation of the intestine in case of inflammatory bowel diseases. A defect in the intestinal TJ barrier is sometimes also known as “leaky gut”. Till date, no effective therapies are available for targeting the intestinal TJ barrier.
A new research in the American Journal of Pathology shows that the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus can target and enhance the intestinal TJ barrier and protect the intestine from inflammation as well as promote colitis healing.
Probiotics are good or helpful bacteria which are used as a therapy for various intestinal disorders and can keep the gut healthy. In this study 20 different probiotic bacteria were assessed by high- throughput screening method. It was found that the probiotic L. acidophilus particularly the LA1 strain interacted with the intestinal cells in a unique way to activate the pathways which lead to tightenedintestinal barrier. The LA1 strain can directly interact with the toll-like receptor-2 complex which in turn can alert the intestine for triggering an immune response.
This bacterial strain can also treat a wide variety of disorders such as coeliac disease, alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and necrotizing enterocolitis. The probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus is found in supplements and various brands of yoghurt such as Chobani, Dannon, Siggi’s, Stonyfield, and Yoplait.
Also read: World day for safety and health at work 2021
REFERENCE: Lactobacillus acidophilus Induces a Strain-specific and Toll-Like Receptor 2–Dependent Enhancement of Intestinal Epithelial Tight Junction Barrier and Protection Against Intestinal Inflammation. Rana Al-SaMa, Prashant Nighot, Meghali Nighot, Mohammad Haque, Manmeet Rawat, Thomas Y. Ma https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2021.02.003
Great article indeed.