HSS 4102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Hygiene Hypothesis, Lactobacillus Reuteri, Helicobacter Pylori

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Health Sciences
• Course: HSS 4102
• Professor: Ron Saulnier

Document Summary

Bacteria in humans help with: development of the intestines, development of the capillary network, development of the immune system, development of the brain. Intestinal mucus varies in thickness and composition in different regions of the gut different populations specializtions: ex. Bacteroids produce products that are metabolized by e. coli further in the gut. Inheritance of the gut bacteria: passed through some form of horizontal transmission but experiments suggest that they are inherited, believed that babies acquire their bacterial communities from the reproductive and digestive tract of their mothers. Bacteria induce or regulate the expression of many genes in the gut which are required for proper development of the gut. Germ-free mice can initiate but not complete intestinal development. The bacteria upregulate genes such as colipase, angiogenin-4 and sprr2a. Other vertebrates, such as zebrafish also need bacteria to develop their intestines and immune system.