The intestinal microflora, necessary for the proper functioning of the body, protects us from pathogenic germs, ensures the breakdown of indigestible foods, facilitates the digestion of complex sugars and the synthesis of vitamins B12 or K. It consists of about 100,000 billion bacteria, belonging to different species. Microbial alteration, or dysbacteriosis, may be the cause of many chronic inflammatory diseases.
Thus, obese people will have a less diverse than average gut microbiota. Today, scientists are trying to use this bacterium as a therapeutic tool.
In France, fecal transplantation is known as a medicine. People with diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficilean antibiotic-resistant bacterium that underwent a human fecal transplant from a healthy individual to rebalance an altered gut flora.
The treatment is 80% effective. Currently, clinical trials are being conducted to test this treatment in other diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, certain forms of autism and type 2 diabetes, among others.
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