A colon-dwelling bacterium may trigger inflammatory bowel diseases by raising the immune system’s alarm against its peaceful bacterial community, reports a recent study led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
In the absence of its bacterial neighbors, the offending Helicobacter bilis bacterium caused only mild gut inflammation in mice, the research team reported. But adding a community of just eight other bacterial species into the mix — a typical human gut contains several hundred — was enough to stir up a more severe inflammatory response.
Read Moreof "Pain in the gut: Microbe betrays neighbors to trigger IBD"
