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microbial flora (microbiome)

community of microorganisms, including prokaryotes, viruses, & microbial eukaryotes, that populate the human body Pathology: - detection of DNA & RNA from certain microbes distinguished people with cancer from those without - hepatitis C virus is linked to liver cancer - papillomavirus is linked to cervical cancer - Fusobacterium species might be linked to colon cancer - microbial signatures may exist for other cancers [2] Comparative biology: - feces of people with Alzheimer's disease transplanted into rats resulted produced in Alzheimer-like changes in brain of the rats [4] Notes: - humans are colonized, inside & out, by microorganisms - >1.4 kilograms of microorganisms in our gut - intestinal microbes produce molecules that travel through the enterohepatic circulation or breach damaged mucosal barriers - many organisms on our skin - humans harbor ~10 microbial cells for every 1 of their own cells - persons with higher levels of the bacteriophage Caudovirales performed better on various tests of executive function & memory [3]

Specific

fecal microbiota (Rebyota) intestinal bacteria (flora) intestinal flora; gut microbiome normal microbial (endogenous) flora salivary bacteria

References

  1. Human Microbiome Jumpstart Reference Strains Consortium. A catalog of reference genomes from the human microbiome. Science 2010 May 21; 328:994 PMID: 20489017 - Zhao L Genomics: The tale of our other genome. Nature 2010 Jun 17; 465:879. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/465879a PMID: 20559375
  2. Poore GD, Kopylova E, Zhu Q et al. Microbiome analyses of blood and tissues suggest cancer diagnostic approach. Nature 2020 Mar; 579:567. PMID: 32214244 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2095-1 - Ajami NJ, Wargo JA. AI finds microbial signatures in tumours and blood across cancer types. Nature 2020 Mar; 579:502 PMID: 32161344 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00637-w
  3. Mayneris-Perxachs J, Castells-Nobau A, Arnoriaga-Rodriguez M et al. Caudovirales bacteriophages are associated with improved executive function and memory in flies, mice, and humans. Cell Host Microbe 2022 Feb 11:S1931-3128(22)00049-X PMID: 35176247 Free article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193131282200049X
  4. Grabrucker S et al. Microbiota from Alzheimer's patients induce deficits in cognition and hippocampal neurogenesis. Brain 2023 Oct 18; [e-pub]. PMID: 37849234 https://academic.oup.com/brain/advance-article/doi/10.1093/brain/awad303/7308687

Components

intestinal bacteria (flora) normal microbial (endogenous) flora