With everyone stocking up on food essentials this past week, it brings to mind the vital role that our stomach plays in order to properly digest these foods. This week, we wanted to share two separate studies related to aspects of the gut.

Promising results for a gut-related condition

Gastroparesis is a painful condition in which the stomach is unable to empty itself of food. Symptoms include heartburn, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and feeling full quickly when eating. In extremely severe cases, patients can experience dehydration, malnutrition and bezoars, a small stone-like matter that forms when food hardens and can block the opening from the stomach into the pylorus (small intestine).

A new study, led by Dr. Prabhash Dadhich and Dr. Khalil N Bitar at Wake Forest School of Medicine showed how a stem cell-combo therapy could bring long-term relief to these patients.

The team of scientists used interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs), a type of stem cell found in the gastrointestinal tract, in combination with neural stem cells. An animal model similar to gastroparesis was then made using tissue from the small intestine of rats. The combination of stem cells were then injected into the small intestine tissue, where the cells were able to survive and integrate with host muscle layers.

In a news release, Dr. Bitar explains how this approach could potentially restore stomach muscle function and enable normal food digestion.

“Our analysis also confirmed the reinstatement and restoration of the stomach muscles’ functionality, both of which are critical in the treatment of pylorus dysfunctionality. These findings are very promising. We hope this study opens avenues for future cell-based clinical applications.”

The full study was published in Stem Cells Journals.

Superbug can damage stem cells in the gut

A collaboration by the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) has revealed that a bacterial superbug can prevent stem cells in the gut from regenerating the inner lining of the intestine.

Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) is a bacterial germ that is responsible for more than half of all hospital infections related to the gut and causes severe diarrhea. It usually grows after antibiotic treatment is administered to a patient.

The team of scientists found that C. diff damages stem cells in the colon, which in turn can cause problems with tissue repair and recovery.

In a press release, Professor Helen Abud, an expert in stem cell biology and one of the authors of this study, explains how this discovery can have wider implications.

“Our study provides the first direct evidence that a microbial infection alters the functional capacity of gut stem cells. It adds a layer of understanding about how the gut repairs after infection and why this superbug can cause the severe damage that it does. The reason it’s important to have that understanding is that we’re rapidly running out of antibiotics – we need to find other ways to prevent and treat these infections.”

The full results to this study were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).