Shop
eStoreRx™
Online Supplement Dispensary
Easy direct-to-patient ordering & fulfilment for Lifelong Wellness, eStoreRx™ is offered as part of the WholePractice membership or as a stand-alone program.
A recent study on pregnant mice has shown that the mother's butyrate had a positive effect on the mortality rate of her pups after their exposure to the infection that induces fatal biliary atresia. Butyrate is a food supplement yet it is also naturally produced during the fermentation of dietary fibers by the body’s intestinal bacteria in the lower intestinal tract, together with glutamine. It has received attention due to its positive effects on energy metabolism and intestinal homeostasis.
Previous human studies have explored butyrate’s potential role in improved sleep and tackling obesity, as well as protecting pregnant women’s health. In animal studies, it has been seen to help against potential intestinal injury in infants when administered to the mother.
Biliary atresia is also known as extrahepatic ductopenia and progressive obliterative cholangiopathy, occurs in newborn children. It is a rare disease that occurs when a delicate tree-like set of ducts that carry bile from the liver to the intestine becomes scarred and blocked. Symptoms include light beige stools; dark-brown urine; a swollen belly; difficulty gaining weight and ascites (fluid in the belly). The damage leads to scarring, loss of liver tissue and function, and cirrhosis.
While some cases of biliary atresia are caused by viral infections, the specific cause of disease for many children is not known. Previous studies have not recommended any curative treatments other than a liver transplant.
Although the treatment of laparoscopic Kasai portoenterostomy offered potential benefits of minimally invasive surgery and is a feasible operation, outcomes in terms of native liver survival rates and actuarial survival rates are unfavorable, compared to conventional liver transplant surgery. It is now accepted that this treatment can slow the damage, but most children who develop biliary atresia will die without a liver transplant.
The team conducting this research using butyrate was inspired by a previous study that reported that mice with high levels of the bacterium Anaerococcus lactolyticus appeared to be resistant to biliary atresia. That bacteria is one of several species known for producing butyrate.
Like the mice in the study, it has been observed that human babies with biliary atresia often have very low amounts of butyrate in their systems. In this study, the improvement in survival rates was striking. When newborn mice were exposed to a virus that inter-alia is known to cause biliary atresia (q.v.), about 60% of those born to mothers given butyrate survived, compared to only 20% of the mice born to mothers receiving typical food and water.
Further testing revealed that an adjusted mix of gut bacteria offered the strongest protection. The team was, therefore, able to improve the survival rate up to 83%.
That key compound turned out to be the amino acid glutamine. However, it should be noted that the researchers directly injected pups with glutamine after they were born, rather than feeding glutamine to their mothers. It is thought that the intestinal production of butyrate in neonates also enriched the population of bacteria that makes glutamine inside the intestinal lumen.
Both molecules are important, with glutamine serving as a survival factor for bile duct cells, while butyrate may suppress an unwanted harmful immune response. It appears that both work together to decrease the risk of biliary injury.
The conclusion of the research shows that further investigation and human clinical trials of the butyrate diet for preventing biliary atresia should be held to ascertain whether the success of this study translates to the human disease, the safety of doses strong enough to prevent biliary atresia. The researchers also suggest it would be appropriate to investigate whether glutamine can help repair damage and/or help reopen already clogged bile ducts.
Submit your comment