Do you have bacteria in your brain?

a microbiology newsletter -march, 2022

Is there a cranial microbiome? Can it be harmful?

Do you have bacteria living in your brain?

Over the decades, scientists have dedicated their entire careers to studying microorganisms on and in our bodies. Although the brain has largely been considered a sterile environment, research has shown evidence of microorganisms living harmlessly in the brain.

In what could be considered a serendipitous event, researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) made unusual observations in slices of brain tissue from cadavers.(1) At the lab of neuroanatomist Rosalinda Roberts, they look for differences in brain tissue between healthy people and people with schizophrenia in the hours after death. One of the scientists in Dr. Roberts’ lab noticed unidentified rod-shaped objects while examining brain tissue slices with an electron microscope. Although she had seen these odd objects before, she dismissed them at the time. Eventually, the researchers utilized the help of a bacteriologist and discovered that these unexpected objects were bacteria. Dr. Roberts’ team checked every brain they had – 34 in total – and found bacteria in every single one, half of them healthy, half from people with schizophrenia.

Further examination revealed that the bacteria were rod shaped and contained a capsule, nucleoid, ribosomes, and vacuoles. The density of the bacteria varied according to the brain region, with abundant bacteria in the substantia nigra, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex but sparse numbers in the striatum. The bacteria were also found in star-shaped brain cells known as astrocytes that were near the blood-brain barrier.(2) When the genetic material from the bacteria was sequenced, they found that most of the microbes were from three phyla common to the gut: Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes.

Roberts considered whether bacteria from the gut could have leaked from the blood vessels into the brain in the hours between a person’s death and the brain’s removal. To further investigate this, she looked at healthy mouse brains preserved immediately after the mice were killed. She found bacteria in similar locations found in the human brain samples. She then looked at brains of germ-free mice raised in sterile environments and these mouse brains were void of any microbial life. Also important to note is that the researchers found no signs of inflammation or bacterial disease in any of the brains they examined. More work still needs to be done to completely rule out the possibility of contamination, whether from the air or from surgical instruments, but Dr. Roberts plans to run a few more experiments to further substantiate the findings.

If there truly is a “brain microbiome,” a big question that remains is how the organisms get there. Dr. Roberts hypothesizes that they may have crossed from blood vessels, traveling up nerves from the gut, or even come in through the nose.(1) There is currently no evidence to show whether these bacteria are helpful or harmful as the researchers have not determined if there are any major differences in the bacteria between the schizophrenic and healthy brains. Further investigation is needed to determine whether this possible microbiome can have brain-related health outcomes.

Bacterial presence in the brain is a field that has yet to be explored but the fascinating findings from Dr. Roberts’ lab may lead to discoveries that the gut-brain link may be a lot more direct than originally thought.

Ref: 1, 2

By Alani Vasquez

Research and Development Manager

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New Drugs in the Fight Against COVID-19

Oral Antiviral Treatments:

Molnupiravir and Paxlovid

As the COVID-19 pandemic moves into its third year, new treatment options to combat the coronavirus disease are being authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In December, 2021, the FDA issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for two oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19, Molnupiravir and Paxlovid.(1,2)

This comes at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and COVID-19 cases are rapidly increasing since the first U.S. Omicron case was reported on December 1, 2021.(3) Effective antivirals may decrease the impact of the current public health emergency by reducing the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and allowing accessibility to treatment for high-risk patients.

Merck’s Molnupiravir is a nucleoside analogue that inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication by viral mutagenesis for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease in adults with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19, and for whom alternative COVID-19 treatment options authorized by FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate.(4) The study showed that Molnupiravir significantly reduced the risk of hospitalization or death from 14.1% (53/377) in the placebo group to 7.3% (28/385) in the Molnupiravir group (absolute risk reduction 6.8%; 95% CI: 2.4, 11.3; p=0.0012), for a relative risk reduction of 48%. (4)

Pfizer’s Paxlovid, includes nirmatrelvir, a SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitor, and ritonavir, an HIV-1 protease inhibitor and CYP3A inhibitor. (6) Nirmatrelvir blocks the activity of the SARS-CoV-2-3CL protease, an enzyme that the coronavirus needs to replicate. Administration along with a low dose of ritonavir helps slow the metabolism of nirmatrelvir, thus remaining active in the body for a longer period of time at higher concentrations to help fight the virus. In clinical trials, Paxlovid was found to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% compared to placebo in non-hospitalized high-risk adults with COVID-19.(7)

Until recently, COVID-19 treatments (monoclonal antibodies and remdesivir) have been only available in hospitals because they are intravenous medications, and although the authorization of oral antivirals may seem as light at the end of the tunnel, the availability of these novel therapies is concerning.(8) While the supply is expected to increase, allocation varies by jurisdiction/ facility and is not comparable to the supply of vaccines. To place in perspective, the United States ordered 13 million courses of oral antiviral therapies, short of the 200 million vaccine doses ordered when they first launched in 2021.(9)

Nevertheless, vaccination remains the best protection against serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19, since neither Paxlovid nor Molnupiravir are authorized for pre-exposure or post-exposure prevention of COVID-19. These FDA Emergency Use Authorizations represent an important milestone in the fight against COVID-19.

By Yesenia Morales

Technical Support, Hardy Diagnostics

Ref: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Phraseology

"Mesmerize"

The word “mesmerize,” meaning to put into a trance, dates back to an 18th century Austrian physician named Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). He established a theory of illness that involved internal magnetic forces, which he called animal magnetism. (It would later be known as mesmerism.) Later, he realized that he could put people into a state of hypnosis by other means. Labeled a charlatan, he was fired from the faculty of the University of Vienna and moved his practice to Paris.

Again, the French medical community became skeptical and viewed Mesmer as nothing more than a quack promoting fraudulent treatments.

8% of all chicken in America is contaminated!

Salmonella in Chicken:

What can be done?

How can infections

be prevented?

A recent study by Consumer Reports found that 8% of all chicken sold in the US tested positive for Salmonella. About 45 billion pounds of chicken is produced every year. That means that almost 4 billion pounds are contaminated with Salmonella and have the potential of causing serious disease. Not only that, but one in six infections will be highly resistant to the commonly used antibiotics.

The other culprit commonly found in poultry is Campylobacter. Together with Salmonella, they account for 1.9 million infections that cause Americans to be sick every year. 28,000 people will be hospitalized and 450 will die from these two microorganisms. Salmonella is so prevalent in the poultry barn, that the USDA allows 9.8% of the whole chickens that it tests to be contaminated with Salmonella. For Campylobacter that number is 15.7%. Although these numbers are shocking, there are things you can do to prevent disease before enjoying your chicken dinner.

Separate in the market - Keep chicken completely separate and seal in a plastic bag, so other food cannot be contaminated.
Separate at home - Store chicken wrapped tightly and on the bottom shelf in case leakage occurs.
Defrost in the fridge - Do not defrost on the counter where it can contaminate other food.
Don't rinse - Washing your chicken could cause splashing and will contaminate your counter and sink.
Wash your hands - Doing this often for at least 20 seconds will prevent you from contaminating other food and surfaces.
Cook thoroughly - Heat to at least 165 deg. F (74 deg. C) using a meat thermometer.

This is good consumer advice, but what can the poultry producers do better to prevent this contamination that is all too prevalent? Here are the suggestions from Consumer Reports:

Vaccinate chickens against multiple strains of Salmonella.
Use probiotics and prebiotics in the feed to crowd out Salmonella bacteria.
Use better hygiene and prevent over-crowding.
Isolate infected birds.
Perform more testing and reject contaminated birds.
Improve how the meat is prepared and cleanly separate the intestines from the meat.
Perform more inspections, destroy contaminated meat or use it in pre-cooked offerings.

By Jay Hardy, CLS, SM(AAM)

CEO, Hardy Diagnostics

Ref: Consumer Reports; September, 2021

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