New insights into the interaction between gut bacteria and the human body

CRIG group leader prof. An Hendrix and her research team observed that small vesicles filled with messenger substances, originating from intestinal bacteria, are present in the blood of patients with HIV, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer. The increased permeability of the intestinal wall results in the presence of bacterial vesicles in the bloodstream which influences our immune system. This discovery sheds new light on how intestinal bacteria communicate with various organs in the human body. Moreover, the researchers developed a sensitive test to detect the presence of those vesicles in blood, which might be applied for early, pre-symptomatic blood cancer screening.

The research was published in the journal 'Gut' and the major findings were recently reported in 'Knack' (in Dutch).

The original press release by Ghent University (in Dutch) can be found here.