Postbiotic Bacteriotherapies

Question 1

helminthic therapy

Answer 1

an experimental type of immunotherapy, is the treatment of autoimmune diseases and immune disorders by means of deliberate infestation with a helminth or with the eggs of a helminth.

Question 2

the Chinese weight-loss drug ephedra

Answer 2

alters the microbiome

Question 3

If your microbiome is not intact, three major classifications of cancer drugs absolutely cannot work in the body.

Answer 3

These drugs include oligonucleotide therapies, platinum chemotherapy, and cyclophosphamide chemotherapy

Question 4

probiotic rebiosis

Answer 4

key word! :)

Question 5

Probiotics are now viewed as

Answer 5

delivery systems for neuroactive compounds.

Question 6

studies in mice found that treatment with the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG

Answer 6

is just as effective in controlling obsessive-compulsive disorder as is the drug Prozac.

Question 7

probiotic supplementation in human petrochemical-industry workers

Answer 7

was found to reduce their symptoms of depression and anxiety

Question 8

Bacterial metabolites like short-chain fatty acids, tryptophan metabolites, indole metabolites, and sphingolipids

Answer 8

will be useful new drugs in the fight against NCDs.

Question 9

polysaccharide A

Answer 9

a component of the bacterium Bacteroides fragilis; can dampen the immune system in cases of autoimmune disease and holds promise for treating diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Question 10

short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)

Answer 10

a fermentation product of specific gut bacteria

Question 11

sphingolipids produced by gut bacteria can improve brain function and prevent dementia

Answer 11

microbiome-based therapeutics

Question 12

Microbial metabolites

Answer 12

sugars, fatty acids, and lipid compounds as well as alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, and gases like sulfide and methane.

Question 13

sulfur-containing compounds such as the sulforaphane

Answer 13

found in broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, mustard greens, and cabbage; reported anticancer qualities and apparent benefits to patients with autism spectrum disorder.

Question 14

having a more diverse skin microbiome

Answer 14

tended to protect you from the mosquitoes

Question 15

Staphylococcus bacteria

Answer 15

very attractive to mosquitoes

Question 16

Pseudomonas and Variovorax

Answer 16

were unattractive; the chemicals our microbes produce

Question 17

competitive exclusion

Answer 17

where probiotic bacteria are used to swamp out other less desirable bacteria, proposals have been made to use replacement bacteria in specific body locations (e.g., underarms) as natural deodorants.

Question 18

supplementation with the probiotic bacteria Bifidobacterium bifidum R0071

Answer 18

resulted in a higher percentage of healthy days among academically stressed students.

Question 19

consumption of fermented foods containing probiotics

Answer 19

was associated with reduced social anxiety.

Question 20

The lower the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila

Answer 20

the thinner a person’s mucus layer, and the more LPS they have in their blood.

Question 21

It is even possible to make people profoundly, though temporarily, depressed

Answer 21

by depleting their bodies’ tryptophan supplies.

Question 22

Describe postbiotic bacteriotherapies

Answer 22

target downstream signaling pathways of the microbiome and act by mitigating the negative effects of an excess, scarcity, or dysregulation of metabolites involved in these pathways

Question 23

Describe propionate pharmacokinesis

Answer 23

Major component of SCFAs

Produced by Clostridia

Question 24

Pharmacokinetics

Answer 24

refers to the movement of drug into, through, and out of the body—the time course of its absorption, bioavailability, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.

Question 25

Functional genomics

Answer 25

-> the study of how a particular subject will respond to a particular drug​

Question 26

Pharmacogenetics

Answer 26

-> the study of variability in drug responses attributed to genetic factors in different populations​

Question 27

Metabolite

Answer 27

-> an intermediate or end-product in metabolism reactions​

Question 28

Bioactivation

Answer 28

-> conversion of a substance into an active state within a living organism or by a biological system

Question 29

Pharmacogeneticists are primarily interested in

Answer 29

• the genetic variations that alter the ability of the body to absorb, transport, metabolise, or excrete drugs and their metabolites
• Basically: ‘any genetically determined variation in response to drugs’
• Even more basically: ‘the genomic information that gives rise to individual drug responses’ ​
• personalised medicine!!!

Question 30

Combinatorial pharmacogenetics is essentially

Answer 30

the ‘interrogation’ (hybridization) of a candidate pathway to identify the loci that modulate a drug response ​

Question 31

Differing drug responses

Answer 31

‘external compounds have to follow a succession of oxidation reactions and conjugations by metabolizing and transporting enzymes to be assimilated and then secreted by an organism’​

Question 32

Pharmokinetics has 4 components:

Answer 32

absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) ​

Question 33

Absorption

Answer 33

-> how the drug enters the bloodstream after taking pill/inhalant (note! Intravenous injection circumvents absorption by putting the drug directly into the blood)​

Question 34

Distribution

Answer 34

-> where the drug travels after absorption, and how much reaches the target site (can be hindered, for example by BBB) ​

Question 35

‘high risk pharmacokinetics’

Answer 35

-> when a drug is metabolized by a single pathway ​

Question 36

Scenario 1: the prodrug must be metabolized (undergo bioactivation)​
What can go wrong?

Answer 36

i) poor metabolisers suffer decreased efficacy or ii) if multiple drugs that inhibit bioactivating systems are administered at once, an extensive metaboliser produces a ’phenocopy’ of a poor metaboliser ​

Question 37

Scenario 2: the substrate drug undergoes bioinactivation via a single metabolic pathway ​
What can go wrong?

Answer 37

If this pathway is faulty, the active parent drug will accumulate in much higher concentrations

Question 38

Personalised medicine

Answer 38

• ‘pre-prescription genotyping’ or ‘pre-emptive genotyping’, where prescriptions can be made on readily-available genotype data at your GP ​
• GP could then observe your gene variants, which are their associated drug responses, and hence decide drug type and dosage for maximum efficacy and to avoid adverse drug reactions ​
• use of genotypes as entry and stratification criterion in clinical trials