Why Bad Bacteria Kills the Good Bacteria in IBD Patients' Guts

Photo from http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu

Earlier this month, the UC Davis published research in an article linked here.  The bottomline is that nitrates in the gut allow bad bacteria to kill off the good bacteria in the gut, which causes inflammation (causing a vicious cycle we're all familiar with).

Here are some key bits and bites:

• "IBD begins when “good” bacteria are mistakenly killed by the immune system, while harmful bacteria multiply — resulting in inflammation and damage to the intestines"

• "The researchers found that potentially harmful bacteria in the intestine called Enterobacteriaceae use nitrate — a byproduct formed during the intestinal inflammation in IBD — to grow and thrive. Enterobacteriaceae strains include certain E. coli bacteria, which can worsen the intestinal damage of IBD. Eventually, the intestines of those with IBD become overrun by harmful bacteria, and the numbers of normal good bacteria in the gut decrease."

While this doesn't have immediate results for us (I guess we could avoid food with nitrates, but I doubt many of us indulge in those anyway), this does seem like promising progress for treatment.  And perhaps it's another argument for frequent use of probiotics.