Fungi in the digestive tract can trigger changes in the intestinal flora that have far-reaching effects on the course of various diseases.
A new study by experts at Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China developed a model of primary liver disease in mice and used clinical samples from humans to examine how long-term changes in the gut mycobiome affect liver health. The results are published in the journal “Science China Life Sciences”.
How the gut affects disease
Recent advances in the study of intestinal flora have uncovered complex changes in the microecology of the intestine in various diseases and have highlighted their profound effects on the course of the disease, the researchers explain.
Numerous studies have clarified the role of intestinal flora and its metabolic products in diseases. Nevertheless, the understanding of the dynamics of different intestinal fungi during the progression of non-viral liver diseases in animals and humans is not well developed, the team reports.
Intestinal fungi and liver cancer
Using their mouse model, the experts have now found that the frequency of a group of fungi (Chytridiomycota) initially increases as the liver disease progresses.
These fungi were later replaced by another group of fungi, the Ascomycota, in hepatocellular carcinoma (the most common form of liver cancer).
In hepatocellular carcinoma, the fungus Kazachstania pintolopesii increased significantly, while the fungus Saccharomyces cerevisiae decreased significantly, the team reports.
To verify the results, the researchers examined stool samples from people with clinical liver disease. There was agreement with the mouse models in which disrupted Ascomycota in hepatocellular carcinoma led to a higher frequency of the Candida species in the group with hepatocellular carcinoma.
immune system and intestinal fungi
The health effects of intestinal fungi have already been addressed in a previous study, which showed in mice that the immune system keeps fungi normally found in the intestine under control.
If the system becomes unbalanced, this promotes the development of intestinal diseases, reported the researchers involved. (as)
