Gut fungi might be linked to obesity and inflammatory bowel disorders
Yeast and bacteria can team up to cause trouble
SHAPE SHIFTER Candida tropicalis usually grows as a harmless roundish budding yeast (green), but in the presence of two bacteria it stretches into long filaments (brown) that may provoke inflammation in intestines.
Djspring/wikimedia commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Fungi may affect gut health in unexpected ways, new research suggests.
High-fat diets may alter relationships between bacteria and fungi in mice’s intestines, contributing to obesity, researchers report October 11 in mSphere. In independent work, researchers report that a fungus teams up with two types of bacteria to fuel gut inflammation in people with Crohn’s disease. That work was summarized October 4 in Digestive and Liver Disease.
Together, the studies are part of a growing body of research indicating that relationships between the bacterial and fungal kingdoms can affect health, says David Andes, a fungal biologist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. Andes wasn’t involved in either study.
Scientists have already described links between
