by Cell Press Credit: CC0 Public Domain Fecal microbiota transplants are the most effective and affordable treatment for recurrent infections with Clostridioides difficile, an opportunistic bacterium and the most common cause of hospital-acquired intestinal infections. However, attempts to treat chronic noncommunicable diseases such as ulcerative colitis and metabolic syndrome via fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) have yielded...
It is thought that an appreciable fraction of the chronic inflammation of aging is caused by changes in the gut microbiome. There is a bidirectional interaction between the immune system and the microbial populations of the intestinal tract. The immune system gardens these populations, destroying problematic microbes. Microbes secrete metabolites and other molecules that can either benefit or harm the function of the immune system,...
