Abstract
Microbes and healthful longevity.
Highlights
The popularity of hand sanitizer and antibiotics shows how we feel about bacteria: an enemy that’s bad for our health
Varian et al (2016) tested this concept involving cancer-associated cachexia using a probiotic microbe Lactobacillus reuteri [1] isolated from human breast milk and previously shown to prevent diarrhea in humans [3]
The authors used a targeted infection in mouse models for proof-of-concept and mechanistic insight, rather than to focus on one type of bacteria per se
Summary
The popularity of hand sanitizer and antibiotics shows how we feel about bacteria: an enemy that’s bad for our health. Varian et al (2016) tested this concept involving cancer-associated cachexia using a probiotic microbe Lactobacillus reuteri [1] isolated from human breast milk and previously shown to prevent diarrhea in humans [3]. Mice consuming probiotic L. reuteri were shown to have larger skeletal muscles than untreated age-matched controls (Figure 1). A surprising additional finding was increased thymus gland size only in mice consuming bacteria in their drinking water.
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