What is the mechanism by which the immune system maintains healthy gut microbes?

  German researchers have discovered an important mechanism that regulates the immune response of intestinal microbes. The results of this multinational study will help develop new treatments for chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The immune system can protect the small intestine from the spread of pathogenic bacteria, and the immune system can also allow probiotics to grow and regenerate.

  Secondly, the composition of intestinal microbes affects the quality of the immune response. A research team led by Dr. Alexander Cheffold of Kiel University (CAU) in Germany has discovered an important mechanism that maintains the balance between gut microbes and immune responses. Researchers have studied the molecular regulatory elements interacting with immune microbes in mice to create a type of immune cell called regulatory T cells that can protect harmful or beneficial microbes in the small intestine from attack by the immune system. I focus on it. Scheffold explained: "We found that a molecule called c-Maf is essential for the development and function of certain regulatory T cells in the intestine." C-Maf can prevent the immune system from attacking gut microbes.

  The lead author of this study, Dr. Christian Neumann, said: "Without this molecule, the intestinal immune system would overreact and greatly change the composition of the intestinal microorganisms." This composition changes very stably. When the researchers transplanted the modified microbes into mice with intact c-Maf regulatory T cells, they still overreacted to the small intestine immune system. "These results indicate that the immune system and microbes interact to establish and maintain a balance in the intestinal environment," Cheffold said. "This explains why maladaptation of microorganisms can lead to chronic enteritis and the failure of treatment."

  These findings have affected the immune response and intestinal flora. It led to the development of new drugs aimed at regulating chronic enteritis. The researchers hope that in the future they will be able to study ways to disrupt the established pathological interaction between gut microbes and the immune system and restore them to a normal state.