A fungal yeast found in cheese and other foods can wreak havoc in the intestines of people with Crohn’s disease, according to new findings. In a study published Thursday, researchers found evidence that Crohn’s patients are more likely to carry yeast than those without the disease, and that this yeast is linked to the slow-healing intestinal wounds that patients often have. If valid, the findings could lead to new treatments and preventive measures for the chronic and painful condition.
Crohn’s is one of the most famous versions of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). There is no clear cause for IBD, but it is suspected that genetics and a malfunctioning immune system play a large role. Patients experience a wide variety of mainly gastrointestinal symptoms caused by chronic intestinal inflammation that come and go as disease flare-ups. These include diarrhea, fever, severe cramps and weight loss. Although there are medications that can treat the symptoms along with diets To help people avoid possible triggers of an episode, few patients experience sustained remission.
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic and elsewhere have been studying Crohn’s disease for some time now, hoping to find something that could help explain how and why the intestines become so damaged in these patients. Their new research, published in Science, points to a possible culprit: a fungus called Debaryomyces hansenii
The scientists studied mice created to develop Crohn’s-like symptoms, as well as biopsy samples of intestinal tissue from people diagnosed with Crohn’s. They found an abundance of them across both groups D. hansenii around injured or inflamed tissue, but not in samples from healthy people or in the non-inflamed tissue from Crohn’s patients.
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For example, they found the fungi in all seven samples from a group of Crohn’s patients, but in only one of 10 healthy controls used for comparison. They also found evidence that this yeast was directly related to the slow healing of intestinal wounds in mice. And when they took samples of the fungi from a Crohn’s patient or sick mice and gave them to a new group of healthy mice, the mice’s ability to heal intestinal wounds deteriorated. This effect was then reversed when mice were given anti-fungal treatment.
All the findings combined, the researchers say, meet Koch’s postulates, a criterion that scientists use to prove that a specific microbe causes a specific set of symptoms. In other words, it suggests that D. hansenii is not just an innocent bystander found in the intestines of these patients, but an active source of trouble. At present, it is not known how patients could be exposed to the fungi, or if yeast-rich foods, such as cheese, could be one source.
‘We propose that D. hansenii inhibits the repair of intestinal ulcers in Crohn’s disease patients, ”study author Thaddeus Stappenbeck, chair of the inflammation and immunity division of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, told Gizmodo in an email. “This feature is characteristic of many Crohn’s patients with moderate to severe disease.”
According to their current theory, the fungal infection does not cause Crohn’s disease itself, Stappenbeck added. It “perpetuates the disease that has already been initiated.”
The findings are still based on a small group of patients and animal research, so they should not be taken as definitive proof of the team’s theory. And even if they’re right, Crohn’s disease and IBD will generally remain one complex disease with symptoms that cannot be fully explained by a single microbe. For example, in the mice they studied, fungal overgrowth did not occur until after the mice were given antibiotics. Other research has pointed antibiotics as a potential risk factor for Crohn’s disease because they can disrupt the delicate microscopic environment of our intestines called the gut microbiome.
If future research continues to show a strong link between Crohn’s disease and Crohn’s disease D. hanseniiHowever, it could lead to important new treatments and strategies to manage the disease. “For patients with D. hansenii in their ulcers, we imagine testing antifungals, ”said Stappenbeck. “We hope this would also encourage the development of antifungals with fewer side effects.”
Another area of research could be to determine how D. hansenii seems to cause inflammation of the intestines in the body, via a protein called CC5 that is produced by some immune cells. And since the yeast is often found in cheese and other processed foods, it may be worth avoiding these foods for patients in general, the researchers say. The team also plans to continue to study how the yeast interacts with the gut microbiome and immune systems of people with Crohn’s.
This article was updated with comments from one of the study authors.