Unique Gut Bacteria with Deep Therapeutic Benefit Potential
In 2014, it was identified as the most heritable bacterial taxon in humans and was found to be significantly reduced in obese European individuals (Goodrich et al. 2014).
These observations were rapidly confirmed in an independent study in 2015 (Fu et al. 2015). In addition, high levels of C. minuta in the 2015 cohort were associated with reduced circulating levels of triglycerides and higher HDL cholesterol (also known as “good” cholesterol).
Disappearance of C. minuta bacteria has also been associated with other conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), both with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis (Pascal et al. 2017, Kummen et al. 2017, Zakrzewski et al. 2018), Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) (Kummen et al. 2017) and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) (Pozuelo et al. 2015).
Although many questions remain to be explored, there is an increasing body of evidence that Christensenellaceae play a major role in the development of a healthy intestinal microbiome and is absent in many pathological conditions. Thus, it bears high potential to be a source of innovative treatment for multiple diseases.
