A global study involving over 50,000 participants has shown that the presence of Blastocystis in the gut, traditionally considered a parasite, is associated with improved cardiovascular health and reduced body fat, suggesting beneficial effects on cardiometabolic health. Further research is needed to validate these findings.
Studies have shown that people with improved cardiometabolic health and healthier diets have increased levels of Blastocystis in their gut.
Researcher-led international study Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)analyzed more than 50,000 people from around the world and found that individuals who harbor the intestinal bacterium Blastocystis, a single-celled organism that is often considered a parasite or benign organism in the digestive system, were associated with signs of better cardiovascular health and less body fat. The findings were published in the journal Nature. cell.
“Blastocystis“Although its impact on health and disease is controversial and likely context-dependent, our study suggests that it may play a beneficial role in how diet influences human health and disease,” said co-first author Long H. Nguyen, MD, a physician-investigator in the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Department of Gastroenterology at MGH and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “At the very least, its ubiquity may suggest a nonpathogenic role.”
Nguyen, who is also a transformational scholar in the School of Medicine at MGH’s Chen Institute, and his colleagues sought to clarify the relationship between the gut and liver. Blastocystisnutrition, and subsequent cardiometabolic health effects (overweight/obesity, type 2 diabetes, and Cardiovascular diseaseTo do so, they conducted a large-scale study that combined and harmonized data on nearly 57,000 individuals from 32 countries across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Blastocystis and to investigate whether their presence alters the impact of different dietary foods on an individual’s cardiometabolic health.
“we Blastocyst“Their presence and abundance varies by region and is also influenced by diet,” Nguyen says.
Dietary influence and historical presence
Blastocystis Consumption of specific foods was associated with an overall dietary pattern that favored healthier, plant-based and less processed foods. Blastocystis It was rarely found in newborns, suggesting that it was likely acquired later in life, and its presence in a stool from 595 AD suggests that it is not strictly a marker of modern microbiome composition.
especially, Blastocystis Levels were associated with improved short-term indicators of cardiometabolic health. For example, the team observed that people with high blood sugar levels had more favorable blood sugar and lipid profiles. Blastocystis The levels suggest that this may have a positive impact on cardiometabolic health as well as the benefits of a healthy diet. Blastocystis It was associated with long-term outcomes such as obesity.
Additionally, adults who participated in a six-month individualized dietary intervention study showed improvements in diet quality over time. Blastocystis Dissemination and abundance.
“Overall, our findings BlastocystisThis may help explain why individual responses to diet and digestive health vary depending on the presence and levels of bacteria. Blastocystis“Our findings also support the idea that Blastocystis Rather than being a parasite with deleterious effects on the host, they may instead be a beneficial component of the human gut microbiome.”
Further studies are needed to determine whether there is an increase. Blastocystis As more research explores the effects of modulating gut bacteria to prevent a variety of medical conditions, controlling gut bacteria levels could be a viable disease prevention strategy.
Reference: “Intestinal Blastocystis is associated with healthier diets and more favorable cardiometabolic outcomes in 56,989 individuals from 32 countries”, Elisa Piperni, Long H. Nguyen, Paolo Manghi, Hanseul Kim, Edoardo Pasolli, Sergio Andreu-Sánchez, Alberto Arrè, Kate M. Bermingham, Aitor Blanco-Míguez, Serena Manara, Mireia Valles-Colomer, Elco Bakker, Fabio Busonero, Richard Davies, Edoardo Fiorillo, Francesca Giordano, George Hadjigeorgiou, Emily R. Leeming, Monia Lobina, Marco Masala, Andrea Maschio, Lauren J. McIver, Mauro Pala, Maristella Pitzalis, Jonathan Wolf, Jingyuan Fu, Alexandra Zhernakova, Simone M. Caccio, Francesco Cucca, Sarah E. Berry, Danilo Ercolini, Andrew T. Chang, Curtis Hattenhower, Tim D. Spector, Nicola Segata, Francesco Asnicar, July 8, 2024, cell.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.06.018
This research was supported by Zoe Ltd. and TwinsUK, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, Versus Arthritis, European Union Horizon 2020, the Chronic Disease Research Foundation (CDRF), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN), and the Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King’s College London. Additional funding information is available in the publication.
