Does Bacteria in Gut Microbiota Protect Against Rotavirus?

According to new research, Gut microbiota might play a major function in the prevention or cure of rotavirus (RV) infection.

It is observed that a colony of mice was resistant to Rotavirus. This resistance shows attributable to one particular bacterial species called SFB or segmented filamentous bacteria.

It is noticed that specific mice bred didn’t shed RV antigens. With the help of a fecal transplant, the transfer of rotavirus resistance was done and co-housing also transferred the resistance. Two strains of bacteria were isolated—SFB-G and SFB-P—determining that RV resistance associated with SFB-G was stronger. The presence of microbiota in the mice administered SFB-G affected the extent of the RV protection, indicating that other microbes play a role in resistance, maybe by supporting SFB colonization.

SFB administration decreased RV shedding and also reduced the incidence of RV-induced diarrhea in compactly raised immunocompetent neonatal mice. This observation gives a foundation for the improvement of new approaches to prevent and cure RV infection. However, since SFB promote the development of Th17 cells, which is associated with, and may intensify, chronic inflammatory diseases and those approaches should be considered with caution. The theory also noted that SFB is generally found among the gut bacteria of children in China, where RV infection is comparatively less severe.

https://bacterialdiseases.infectiousconferences.com/

Investigators also examined mechanisms that allow SFB to stop RV infection, with chances of including that the bacteria will give effect on RV directly or on the intestinal epithelial cells in which the RV binds. The study determined that SFB increased epithelial cell turnover, impeding RV.

Rotavirus is a highly transmittable cause of diarrhea worldwide, which causes very severe, life-threatening disease in some people and mild disease in some other people. Rotavirus infections kill an estimated 215,000 children younger than 5 each year.

A recent study determined that the virus can be transmitted in clusters inside vesicles in stool, which can travel through the gastrointestinal tract intact and they are more infectious than the individual viruses. A vaccine is used for the prevention of rotavirus infection, but there are currently no other treatments for the disease. Another recent study determined the vaccine to be very effective, conferring a 94% lower rate of hospitalization for rotavirus infections and a 31% lower rate of hospitalization for any other reason in the first 2 months after vaccination. The vaccine also has been linked to a lower risk of type 1 diabetes.