Be it financial worries, work pressures, or relationship problems, we all get stressed from time to time. According to a new study, stress may be just as detrimental to our health as junk food — for women, at least.
Researchers found that stressed female mice experienced changes to their gut microbiota — that is, the community of microorganisms that reside in the intestine — comparable with what is seen in response to a high-fat diet.
The researchers recently reported the results of their study in the journal Scientific Reports.
Half of the female mice and half of the male mice were fed a high-fat diet for 16 weeks, while the remaining mice were fed a standard chow diet.
Compared with female mice fed a high-fat diet, the team found that male mice fed a high-fat diet showed greater anxiety.
However, among mice fed the standard chow diet, the researchers found that female mice displayed gut microbiota changes in response to stress that were similar to those seen in response to the high-fat diet. “Stress can be harmful in a lot of ways,” says Bridgewater, “but this research is novel in that it ties stress to female-specific changes in the gut microbiota.
That’s why it is important to get anything you feel is not quite right for you checked out.
The World Health Organisation has warned that 50g of processed meat a day – just one sausage – increases the chance of developing bowel cancer by 18 per cent.
According to Cancer Research UK, the less alcohol you drink, the lower your risk of cancer.
The solution: It is important to say that not everyone who drinks alcohol will get cancer – of course not – but it is a risk and we have to weigh up that risk.
Exercise is also linked to a lower risk of polyps developing in the bowel.
He says: ‘I used to love bacon – and as a 6ft-tall former rugby player, I’d eat meat most days.
‘Research into genes for bowel cancer is at an early stage, so they don’t know how significant these anomalies are, but she’s now been told to have a colonoscopy every year, rather than every five years as she did before.
(Fig. (Fig.
According to NLRP3-inflammasome deficiency and diet, significant differences between microbial taxa were found (Fig.
Effect of diet and genotype on gut microbiota composition.
7d) and this was associated with reduced TLR4, TLR5 and TLR9 expression in the liver of Nlrp3−/−-HFHC mice (Fig.
The worsen degree of adipose tissue inflammation and liver injury in NLRP3 deficient mice was associated with specific modifications of gut microbiota composition.
The key role of gut dysbiosis in the pathogenesis of adipose tissue and hepatic alterations has been proved by antibiotic treatment, which dramatically modified bacterial composition, depleting gram-negative bacteria, including Proteobacteria which strongly correlates with liver disease progression24, finally reducing bacterial translocation, liver injury and adipose tissue inflammation. Gut decontamination induced by antibiotics significantly reduced TLRs expression, indicating a major role of gram-negative products translocation in their activation, that was associated with features of NAFLD (increased body weight and hepatic triglyceride deposition) and progression of liver disease (inflammation and fibrogenesis).
Bacterial translocation induces adipose tissue dysfunction, known to increase fatty acids efflux to the liver.
Histochemical reactions were performed using Vectastain ABC Kit (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA, USA) and Sigma Fast 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) as the substrate.
(A) HTR4 isoforms HTR4a, HTR4b, HTR4d, HTR4g, HTR4i and HTR4c, without a specified 3′UTR.
Our specific aims were to locate SNPs residing within the 3′UTRs of GI-relevant HTR4 isoforms in order to identify putatively regulating miRNAs and to assess miRNA expression in gut biopsies of IBS patients compared to healthy controls and to validate the regulation in vitro.
3D) experiments in HEK293T cells showed significantly higher luciferase activity and protein expression level for the shortened HTR4b_2 isoform compared to the full length HTR4b isoform (Fig.
Full size image The HTR4b_2 novel isoform carrying the c.*61 T > C SNP escapes miRNA regulation As evidence accumulated that respective HTR4 isoforms are co-expressed with and transcriptionally regulated by relevant miRNAs, we proceeded by assessing the importance of distinct miRNA target sites, and in particular the functional relevance of the identified rare variant (c.*61 T > C) associated with IBS-D. For this purpose we performed luciferase reporter assays with the canonical HTR4b/i isoforms by cloning both, the full length wild type (WT) HTR4b/i 3′UTR and the corresponding mutated construct (c.*61 C).
In this study, we identified a regulatory SNP affecting a miRNA binding site and confirmed isoform-specific miRNA regulation, both relevant in IBS-D.
HTR4b/i c.*61 T > C is the second variant of a serotonin receptor gene associated with IBS-D since we identified the functional HTR3E variant c.*76 G > A15, both of which lead to disturbed miRNA regulation and potentially affect receptor densities.
(A) HTR4 isoforms HTR4a, HTR4b, HTR4d, HTR4g, HTR4i and HTR4c, without a specified 3′UTR.
Our specific aims were to locate SNPs residing within the 3′UTRs of GI-relevant HTR4 isoforms in order to identify putatively regulating miRNAs and to assess miRNA expression in gut biopsies of IBS patients compared to healthy controls and to validate the regulation in vitro.
3D) experiments in HEK293T cells showed significantly higher luciferase activity and protein expression level for the shortened HTR4b_2 isoform compared to the full length HTR4b isoform (Fig.
Full size image The HTR4b_2 novel isoform carrying the c.*61 T > C SNP escapes miRNA regulation As evidence accumulated that respective HTR4 isoforms are co-expressed with and transcriptionally regulated by relevant miRNAs, we proceeded by assessing the importance of distinct miRNA target sites, and in particular the functional relevance of the identified rare variant (c.*61 T > C) associated with IBS-D. For this purpose we performed luciferase reporter assays with the canonical HTR4b/i isoforms by cloning both, the full length wild type (WT) HTR4b/i 3′UTR and the corresponding mutated construct (c.*61 C).
A person’s bowel habits say a lot about their health and how well their body is functioning.
Many people have concerns that they are pooping too many times a day, or not enough.
Contents of this article: It is hard to say what is normal, especially when it comes to frequency of bowel movements as it varies from person to person.
Doctors look at how often someone poops and the consistency to determine if a person’s bowel habits are usual.
Healthy bowel habits mean that someone is pooping regularly and that the poop is soft and easy to pass.
Diarrhea can also lead to nutrient deficits because the intestine is not able to absorb them when poop is moving through so quickly.
If someone typically poops frequently during the day, and the poop has a soft, easy to pass consistency and regular appearance, then people should not be concerned.
Eating a well-balanced diet with adequate fiber and taking in more fluids is an easy way to be more regular, as is being more physically active each day.
Generally speaking, most people poop between 3 times a week and 3 times a day, but it is also important to be aware of poop consistency and regularity.
Whenever a person’s bowel habits change significantly, they should visit their doctor for an evaluation.
