Marianna Byndloss, DVM, PhD, talks about how researchers are looking to the gut and a FDA approved drug to treat inflammatory bowel disease to aid in the prevention of heart disease.
Interview conducted by Ivanhoe Broadcast News in February 2022.
Talk to me about your research. What is it that you and your colleagues are looking at?
BYNDLOSS: So, we’re very interested in understanding how the microbes or the bacteria that live in our gut, how they help to promote health and how they may affect our body and cause disease. That’s like the big picture of what we’re interested in.
What have your findings been?
BYNDLOSS: So, what we recently found is that the diet, or whatever you eat, influences how the microbes inside your gut live and how they work and how they may cause disease. So, we’re particularly interested in how the typical American diet, which is the diet that has a lot of fat and a lot of sugar, how that diet is changing how the microbes that live in your gut work and how that may cause cardiovascular disease. What these bacteria are doing is that they are pretty much using things that are present in our diet and particularly in this American-Style high fat, like bad diet. So, they’re using components of that diet and eating them themselves and then producing some products that induce inflammation in your heart and in your arteries and cause cardiovascular disease.
What are of those products that they’re producing?
BYNDLOSS: So, they produce a metabolite that’s called trimethylamine, or we refer to it as TMA. This metabolite goes in your circulation and gets modified in the liver. After that, the metabolite that comes out of it causes damage to your arteries and to your heart.
You were studying or you’re studying this type of drug that can maybe reduce that reduce the risk of that happening. Can you talk a little bit about that?
BYNDLOSS: So, what we found that is very interesting is that so a lot of times when we think about cardiovascular disease or other diseases that affect our whole body, we don’t usually consider what’s happening in the gut or this relationship between microbes and our intestines. So, what we decided to look is can we prevent some of these diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, by altering the relationship between the microbes in our intestines? The drug that we used for that is a drug called five-amino salicylic acid or 5-ASA which is a drug that restores the health of the intestines and prevent the microbes from producing this bad metabolite that can induce cardiovascular disease. So, we’re really interested in kind of shifting a little bit of the thought from everything related to cardiovascular disease is happening in the heart to start thinking that some of the risks that factors for cardiovascular disease are related to what’s happening in our gut and what is happening with the microbes that live in our gut.
For the everyday person, what impact can this research have on them?
BYNDLOSS: So, the major impact, I think the major take-home message is our first that what you eat in your everyday life may increase your risk for certain diseases. That risk is happening because of what your diet is. The main reason why we think that is happening, I mean, how your diet may be affecting your health is because your diet is damaging or affecting these microbes, the small creatures that live with us, and may cause them to produce harmful products that may increase your risk for certain diseases such as cardiovascular disease.
What other diseases could that be?
BYNDLOSS: So, one thing that we do know is that dietary habits and a high fat diet can induce obesity, can induce weight gain. Weight gain and obesity has been linked to a lot of diseases other than just cardiovascular disease, and one of these diseases is colorectal cancer. We are particularly interested in that connection because we know that the microbes that live in our gut may also contribute to colorectal cancer progression. So, one of the things that we’re interested in moving forward is to understand how these microbes that live in your gut may promote colorectal cancer because they are being affected by your dietary habits. So, it sounds a little bit complex at first, but we think that this relationship between the microbes in the intestines during obesity and during a high fat diet may be contributing to a lot of diseases beyond cardiovascular disease, also colorectal cancer and other diseases that affect humans.
Is that something that you’re currently looking at? Or is that something you’re about to study the colorectal cancer correlation?
BYNDLOSS: So, we have research ongoing on that topic, but we haven’t published on that yet. So that’s like the next step for what we want to do.
Anything that I didn’t ask you that you feel that people should know?
BYNDLOSS: I think one important aspect that people should know is to try to think of their body as a whole and not just little things about it. So, it’s important for people to know that the microbes that live with us play a very important role in how healthy we are or in the diseases associated with a bad diet and with other aspects of our life. So, I think it’s important to think of your everyday habits, your dietary habits and how that may affect your health through these little creatures or these microbes that live with us all the time.
Are there certain diets that have been proven to actually promote good – I guess, good behaviors from these microbes?
BYNDLOSS: There’s a lot of ongoing research on the topic, but one aspect of diets that we do know that promote health and promote the good microbes that are going to help us stay healthy is a diet rich in vegetables and in grains and in fiber, right? I think one thing that I always tell people is like every time I give a talk or every time, I talk to someone, it’s like there’s a reason why we are always telling people to eat vegetables. And it’s because these vegetables are not good just for us but they’re also good for the microbes that live with us so they can produce products that promote our health.
END OF INTERVIEW
This information is intended for additional research purposes only. It is not to be used as a prescription or advice from Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc. or any medical professional interviewed. Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc. assumes no responsibility for the depth or accuracy of physician statements. Procedures or medicines apply to different people and medical factors; always consult your physician on medical matters.
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