Love is in the air (and microbes too)

With Valentine’s day fast approaching and love being well and truly in the air it got me thinking, could the bacteria we live with be somewhat involved?

The bacteria living in a commensal, symbiotic or sometimes pathogenic relationship with us are often deemed separate organisms that have no influence on humans, be it by matters of the mind, or the heart. We feel in control of our feelings and our minds, how could an organism so tiny, and nowhere near as complex, influence us?

Well, love is often described as an incontrollable feeling that ‘just happens’ and causes us to often do crazy things.

The Hologenome theory states that the host (humans) plus all of its microbiota (bacteria in the gut etc.) is a single unit (I. Z. Rosenberg & E. Rosenberg 2008). This microbiota plays an important role in health and disease within humans. Therefore, this theory of the relationship between us and our bacteria, seems to make sense.

Our own natural scent (body odor) is unique to every one of us. Bacteria feed on the unique, individual proteins on our skin and release these gasses which become our personal scent. We also produce ‘pheromones’ that are different for men and women and also aid in attraction. It may not smell as sweet as the ‘flowered scented’ perfume, but it’s said to play a part in human attraction and love.

Not only can our bacteria influence when we’re ill and how we digest food – they may also be involved in our personalities, and even our love lives!

A study has shown that our gut microbiota and our brain ‘communicate’ which can influence personality and memory (J. F. Cryan & S. M. O’Mahoney 2011). The term ‘gut feeling’ might actually mean something, and your personality is also an attractive tool when looking for love.

It’s not just our personality our gut can influence. Scientists have been able to change the sexual preferences of fruit flies by altering their gut microbiota (G. Sharon et al. 2010). These scientists showed how a certain bacterial species could influence mating. Could this happen to humans? No studies have been done to show how our own microbiota may influence our sexual choice. However, due to all of us having varied diets, and therefore varied microbiota, it could be possible. So our gut bacteria may have a part to play when it comes to finding ‘the one’.

Happy Valentine's Day :-)

References:

I. Z. Rosenberg & E. Rosenberg (2008)http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1574-6976.2008.00123.x/abstract

J. F. Cryan & S. M. O’Mahoney (2011) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2982.2010.01664.x/abstract
G. Sharon et al. (2010)http://www.pnas.org/content/107/46/20051

What's lurking in the tomato ketchup?

Turkey breasts, Cucumbers, Korma sauces and now.. Watermelons! It seems no food is safe when it comes to microbial contamination. Barely does a month go by without a contaminated food source lurking somewhere amongst the news headlines.

Taken from http://www.telegraph.co.uk

How often does this happen? Are all foods at risk?

Last year Germany's Escherichia coli outbreak was associated with unwashed bean sprouts and caused severe food poisoning (including deaths) in hundreds across Europe (BBC News, 30/05/11). Scotland's Clostridium botulinum outbreak caused two to be hospitalised due to the severe disease Botulism, that was associated with contaminated jars of korma sauce (BBC News, 14/11/11). Last week a Salmonella newport outbreak has caused one death and has been linked to watermelons (BBC News, 02/02/12).

Due to the UK importing a large number of foods from abroad, these food poisoning cases can spread rapidly through the community. Manufacturing large 'bulk' amounts of packaged foods also increases the risks. So, the likely hood of microbes entering the food supply chain is high.
But don't be scared to eat any food again, the majority of these microbes are killed during cooking (e.g. beef and chicken) hence most illnesses occur when either of these are undercooked or contaminated with raw meat.

The Botulism case was due to the type of bacterium present. Clostridium botulinum produces a deadly toxin (poison), this toxin will then remain in the food even if the organism dies. This toxin is so deadly because it attacks the nervous system, causes blurred vision and small quantities can be deadly (1g could kill the whole of the UK population).
In terms of fruit and vegetables, simply washing before cooking/eating is usually all that is required.
Pre-packaged food, particularly food that does not require heating, is where the major problem lies. However, these 'pre-packaged' types of food poisoning rarely occur.

Strict security guards are present in food manufacturing to prevent microbiological contamination and treatments such as pulsed electronic fields, heat and Ultra-violet (UV) treatment are used for ready-to-eat foods.
Samples are regularly checked for contamination and 'food poisoning risk'. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) have a set of guidelines that manufactures must rely on, which provides the minimum total number allowed by each organism (HPA Guidelines, 2008).

With all these measures put in place to prevent food poisoning, in an ideal world it should not happen. However, the food manufacturers can only do so much - they must rely on the public/food outlet to do the rest.



References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16854176 Salmonella and watermelons (accessed 6/2/12)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13592765 E.coli outbreak 2011 (accessed 6/2/12)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-15712910 Clostridium botulinum and Korma sauce (accessed 6/2/12)

http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1194947422163 HPA Guidelines for the microbiological quality of some ready-to-eat foods sampled at the point of sale (2000)

Top tips this Christmas:

It is the season to be jolly - full of festive spirit and cheer. However the reality of Christmas for me is eating way too much turkey and cake. Then I try to eat all the chocolates in one go before New Year.. So the diet can begin!

Is that all we need to worry about? Eating so much we can’t move for a week? I’d love to say ‘yes’ however there’s a lot that can go wrong during the festive season.

Turkey

The most obvious thing that tends to go wrong is the Turkey! We’ve all seen the adverts around this time of year of a giant turkey running around ruining Christmas. Food poisoning is the most common illness during Christmas. The most common cause.. Not thoroughly defrosting the turkey! It may not have occurred to you but a family size turkey needs to be defrosted in the fridge for 2 days! So unless you want to be on the toilet for the rest of the week (my guess is no you don’t) just follow the defrosting advice and cook your turkey properly.

Festive Figures

Christmas is also the time to enjoy those extra days off with a little ‘tipple’ of wine, brandy, sherry etc. Combined with the boozy Christmas pudding, cake and liquor chocolates this is why it is the season to be ‘merry’. Alcohol consumption increases by 40% in December! Here are a few funny (and real) festive figures of the reasons why people end up in hospital over Christmas.. Enjoy!

• 2,080 due to being carried, and dropped by another person last year
• 46,460 due to falling from something on the same level (most common.. falling off the toilet!)
• 18,610 due to people striking themselves against an object (like walking into a wall!)
• 18,570 were injured due to the simple slip on ice or snow
• 3,680 due to a rider of an animal/ animal drawn vehicle transport accident

• 790 due to contact with hot appliances

• 1,420 due to falling from trees

• 4 broken arms due to cracker pulling accidents

• 5 people injured by out of control ‘Scalextric’cars (1999)

• 18 people had serious burns trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth.

• 19 people have died in the last 3 years believing that Christmas decorations were chocolate (1997-2000)

• 31 people have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in.

A non-christmas one that made me laugh was this:

• 460 admitted in 2009/10 due to contact with a powered lawn mower!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone! Xx

References:

http://systemhygiene.co.uk/news/2011/november/patient-care-a-christmas-carol-and-some.html

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/news-and-events/news/a-christmas-carol-or-two-from-the-nhs-information-centre http://www.addaction.org.uk/page.asp?section=414&sectionTitle=Christmas+statistics

Microbiology and Cancer

Cancer is thought to be caused by a number of factors including; gender, diet and genetic pre-dispositions. However it looks like microorganisms are another name to be added to that list.

The Hepatitis C & B Viruses cause Liver Cancer, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) causes Cervical Cancer, Helicobacter pylori is associated with Stomach Cancer & more recently the throat/oral bacterium Fusobacterium and its association with Colon Cancer.

What does this mean? Well there is currently a highly effective vaccine for Hepatitis B. This should mean that the incidence should decrease, however increased alcohol consumption and obesity also increase the risk of this type of cancer.

In the past few years a vaccine against HPV has been developed and is now given to teenage girls to prevent them from getting the virus and decreasing the risk of Cervical Cancer. HPV has also been linked to throat cancer and causes genital warts. If this vaccine is effective against the disease then hopefully the vaccine can be administered to other ‘at risk’groups.

H. pylori has been found in gastric ulcers and, as well as other factors, increases the risk of stomach cancer. In the last few weeks scientists have now found a link between the oral/throat bacterium Fusobacterium and colon cancer. The scientists found the organism was present in the colon of individuals with the disease.

Fusobacterium necrophorum gram stain under the microscope
http://loudoun.nvcc.edu/vetonline/vet132/micro/microbiology_unit_lesson5.htm

Fusobacterium species are bacteria which thrive in low oxygen environments (they are also rather smelly and give us bad breath). They are found in the mouth and contribute to dental plaque and sore throats. The reason I’m talking a bit more about this organism is because I studied it for my undergraduate dissertation. I studied the organism Fusobacterium necrophorum and its association with ‘Persistent sore throat syndrome’. F. necrophorum was found to be the second commonest cause of bacterial sore throats in the UK, particularly amongst young adults.

Fusobacteriumin Colon Cancer? It can cause disease in the upper respiratory tract, what’s not to say it couldn’t further down? Well TWO teams of scientists identified the bacterium to be present in colon cancer patients. The organism is rarely found in the healthy colon, but has been found in patients with a disease known as Ulcerative Colitis (inflammation of the digestive tract), which itself is a risk factor for Colon Cancer.

Further research is needed, but if Fusobacterium is a risk factor for Colon Cancer then diagnostic tests could be developed. As well as this antibiotics and vaccines could be trialled to see if they have an effect on prevention and treatment of the cancer.

So some cancers seem to have a microbiological risk factor. This has seen us take a new look at Cancer and ways to treat it. However the best action is prevention so reducing the risks such as drinking, smoking and obesity as well as these microbiological risks is essential.

References:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15333364

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/236132.php

Bubbles bubbles: But why are they white?

Last night I got a very interesting 'tweet' from a friend wondering why the 'blue' liquid 'bubble bath' produced 'white' bubbles instead of blue ones?

As I was half asleep I thought it must have something to do with one of the ingredients in 'bubble bath' that causes the 'bubbles' enabling them to be white no matter what colour the initial liquid is. However, upon waking up this morning I realised an ingredient wouldn't make any difference...


@Madambakealot:  "@kevinpp24: Why r bubbles in baths so white? Surely blue liquid = blue
                                 bubbles? http://yfrog.com/h84kzumj” @SamanthaLPrice?.... :D xxx



Not Chemistry but Physics
Why? If you think about it, the 'surf' on a wave is always white isn't it? And when you pour a fizzy drink (be it cola, lemonade or Fanta orange) there's always a white 'fiz'.

So the cause of the 'white bubbles' must have nothing to do with the colour of the liquid, or type of liquid (seeing as I doubt coca cola and bubble bath have the same ingredients?).

So why are they white?
Well what colour lights are in your bathroom? I'm guessing regular white bulbs? (see where I'm going?). At first I thought it has to have something to do with chemistry, but it's actually physics at work here.

A Prism - How white light can be split into different colours
(Taken from Pink Floyd's Album cover: Dark side of the moon)

White Bubbles:
What is a bubble? Well it's a spherical shaped thin layer of 'translucent' liquid, with essentially an 'empty' centre (I don't mean 'space empty' i just mean 'no liquid in the middle empty'). The outside of this 'bubble' is full of bright light from your bathroom (otherwise known as 'white' light). The inside of this bubble is somewhat darker as there's no light souce inside the bubble. So what happens is some of the 'white light' from the room 'reflects' off the outer surface of the bubble (like a mirror) and what our eyes see is 'white'. This therefore gives us a 'white bubble'.

White bubbles in your bath (taken from Clipart)

Still want colour bubbles?
So there you go, you now know the answer to the question: 'Why do we have white bubbles?' However, if you really want blue/green/red bubbles - you can!
Just change that bathroom light bulb to a red/blue or green one and then you can enjoy your colourful bubbles! ;-)

What could be on your contact lenses?

I’ve just been watching ‘Monster Jellyfish Attack!’ (Yes I watch some strange programs in between X-factor and Eastenders!) and it reminded me of a weird microorganism I’m currently working with.

No – it’s not a tiny jellyfish; it’s actually a type of Amoeba species known as Acanthamoeba. Unlike bacteria and viruses, this is different (and a bit of a pain to work with as they’re easily contaminated and affected by the slightest change in temperature), and it actually feeds on gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli.

Eats bacteria? Sounds good doesn’t it? Wrong!

What is Acanthamoeba?

This microorganism is a particular problem with contact lenses (hence the title of this post). This amoeba is one of the main reasons contact lenses have to be left in a disinfectant solution before being used. Acanthamoeba polyphaga is a free-living pathogenic amoeba that lives in the soil and water. If contact lenses are not cleaned correctly, rinsed with water or contaminated due to poor hygiene then an infection is likely.

This Amoeba can cause’ Keratitis’ - which can be a potentially blinding infection of the cornea of the eye! So, disinfection of contact lenses is highly important. Hydrogen peroxide is one of the most effective disinfectants against this organism, and is used to clean most contact lenses.

Acanthamoeba polyphagia - Light microscope x1000

Acanthamoeba and me?

 So, I’m currently working with this organism – Why? If I’m not carefully I could blind myself!

Well, I’m working with it to hopefully increase hydrogen peroxide’s effectiveness against this organism (e.g. quicker kill time and lower concentrations to be used).

A quicker kill time would be great as it means less time leaving your contact lenses in disinfectant and more time wearing them. A lower concentration seems silly right? A higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide means more kill? Well hydrogen peroxide is quite a dangerous, flammable chemical so reducing this risk would be a good thing J

Worse things than going blind?

Not only can Acanthamoeba polyphaga cause blindness - it has also been shown, by the University of Bath, that MRSA can replicate inside of it! (causing more of a problem). Also, if you’re immunocompromised (HIV, chemotherapy), then this organism can cause ‘encephalitis’ - which is an infection of the brain.

So, now you know what could be lurking on your contact lenses – you’ll be making sure they’re thoroughly cleaned before wearing them!

References:   Huws, S. A., Smith, A. W., Enright, M. C., Wood, P. J. and Brown, M. R. W. (2006), Amoebae promote persistence of epidemic strains of MRSA. Environmental Microbiology, 8: 1130–1133. doi: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.00991.x

GNSO and Clostridium difficile

Earlier this week it was reported that US researchers had made an interesting discovery regarding the way our cells in our gut fight off the toxins produced by Clostridium difficile. It was reported in ‘Nature Medicine’ that a chemical known as GSNO (S-nitrosoglutathione), which is produced naturally by the cells in the gut, was able to deactivate the toxin and prevent inflammation and diarrhoea.

C. difficile vegetative cells (pink) and spores (green)

This discovery means that this could offer a new way to treat the bacterium other than using conventional treatments, such as antibiotics (which resistance is causing a problem).

It’s also due to antibiotics (a patient may be being treated for a chest infection) that can cause a toxic C. difficile to multiply in the gut (due to antibiotics wiping out most of the ‘healthy/good’ bacteria).

Most strains of C. difficile are harmless and are part of the normal ‘healthy/good’ gut bacteria, however if a toxic strain is exposed to a patient on antibiotics then this can cause disease.



Image 1 C.difficle toxin infecting a cell

So how does GSNO prevent the toxin from making us ill? Well the C.difficile toxin is basically ‘too big’ to enter the cell, so it has to ‘cleave’ into a smaller chunk that can enter the cell to cause inflammation and diarrhoea. (See image 1).

However, GSNO prevents the toxin from splitting into a smaller chunk. This means that it can not enter the cell and cause inflammation and diarrhoea (See image 2).



Image 2 GSNO preventing the C. difficile toxin from entering the cell



If this molecule can be further studied then it could give light to new therapies to deal with and prevent C. difficile infection in patients. This type of therapy is a long way off, but it is exciting! Unlike antibiotics, this kind of therapy would not give rise to antibiotic resistance and could be a vital step to help reduce the disease.

Reference/further info: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14589385 (accessed: 23rd August 2011)