Worm Menu, War Menu or Worm in You?

You have heard it said, “You are what you eat.” Well I believe it better said, “You eat what you are fed by those you are feeding, and then you eat them.”

Feces, also spelled faeces, also called excrement, solid bodily waste discharged from the large intestine through the anus during defecation. Feces are normally removed from the body one or two times a day. About 100 to 250 grams (3 to 8 ounces) of feces are excreted by a human adult daily.

Normally, feces are made up of 75 percent water and 25 percent solid matter. About 30 percent of the solid matter consists of dead bacteria; about 30 percent consists of indigestible food matter such as cellulose; 10 to 20 percent is cholesterol and other fats; 10 to 20 percent is inorganic substances such as calcium phosphate and iron phosphate; and 2 to 3 percent is protein.

Cell debris shed from the mucous membrane of the intestinal tract also passes in the waste material, as do bile pigments (bilirubin) and dead leukocytes (white blood cells). The brown colour of feces is due to the action of bacteria on bilirubin, which is the end product of the breakdown of hemoglobin (red blood cells). The odour of feces is caused by the chemicals indole, skatole, hydrogen sulfide, and mercaptans, which are produced by bacterial action.

Many diseases and disorders can affect bowel function and produce abnormalities in the feces. Constipation is characterized by infrequent evacuations and the production of excessively hard and dry feces, while diarrhea results in frequent defecation and excessively soft, watery feces. Bleeding in the stomach or intestines may result in the passage of blood with the stool, which appears dark red, tarry, or black. Fatty or greasy stools usually indicate pancreatic or small-intestine afflictions. Typhoid, cholera, and amoebic dysentery are among diseases spread by the contamination of food with the feces of infected persons.

Ascariasis in Japan: is pig-derived Ascaris infecting humans?

~Content Source

Human ascariasis is caused by infection with the common roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides, although the pig roundworm Ascaris suum has also been reported to infect humans and develop into the adult stage. To elucidate whether pig-derived Ascaris infects humans in Japan, 9 Ascaris isolates obtained from Japanese patients and a further 9 Ascaris isolates of pig origin were analyzed to determine their internal transcribed spacer-1 sequences. Six of the 9 clinical isolates showed the Ascaris genotype which predominantly infects humans in endemic countries, while the other 3 clinical isolates and 9 pig-derived isolates showed the genotype predominant in pigs worldwide. These results suggest that at least some cases of human ascariasis in Japan are a result of infection with pig-derived Ascaris.

Environmental and Gut Bacteroidetes: The Food Connection

~Content Source

~Content Source #2-BETTER

Environmental-and-Gut-Bacteroidetes-The-Food-ConnectionDownload

Members of the diverse bacterial phylum Bacteroidetes have colonized virtually all types of habitats on Earth. They are among the major members of the microbiota of animals, especially in the gastrointestinal tract, can act as pathogens and are frequently found in soils, oceans and freshwater. In these contrasting ecological niches, Bacteroidetes are increasingly regarded as specialists for the degradation of high molecular weight organic matter, i.e., proteins and carbohydrates. This review presents the current knowledge on the role and mechanisms of polysaccharide degradation by Bacteroidetes in their respective habitats. The recent sequencing of Bacteroidetes genomes confirms the presence of numerous carbohydrate-active enzymes covering a large spectrum of substrates from plant, algal, and animal origin. Comparative genomics reveal specific Polysaccharide Utilization Loci shared between distantly related members of the phylum, either in environmental or gut-associated species.

Moreover, Bacteroidetes genomes appear to be highly plastic and frequently reorganized through genetic rearrangements, gene duplications and lateral gene transfers (LGT), a feature that could have driven their adaptation to distinct ecological niches. Evidence is accumulating that the nature of the diet shapes the composition of the intestinal microbiota. We address the potential links between gut and environmental bacteria through food consumption. LGT can provide gut bacteria with original sets of utensils to degrade otherwise refractory substrates found in the diet. A more complete understanding of the genetic gateways between food-associated environmental species and intestinal microbial communities sheds new light on the origin and evolution of Bacteroidetes as animals’ symbionts. It also raises the question as to how the consumption of increasingly hygienic and processed food deprives our microbiota from useful environmental genes and possibly affects our health.

Skinny Man. Man without skin.

Keywords: Bacteroidetes, adaptation to environmental niches, microbiota

linkRoll-2019.07.02

Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3129010/#B1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4030606/ – TUDCA

Brain Parasite Settles In and Quickly Orders Out

https://www.cellsignal.com/contents/science-cst-pathways-pi3k-akt-signaling-resources/mtor-signaling-interactive-pathway/pathways-mtor-signaling

http://www.jbc.org/content/270/51/30290.full – NITRIC OXIDE MORPHINE

TUDCA

Oh baby…On its way via AMAZON.

DESCRIPTION

SUMMARY

Taurosodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is a bile salt and liver supplement naturally produced by our gallbladders that has many health benefits. [1]

BENEFITS AND EFFECTS

TUDCA works either by its interactions with other bile salts or by preventing cells from apoptosis. [1]

GALLSTONES

Taking bile salts is a long-established way for people to prevent gallstones. [4] TUDCA also helps to dissolve gallstones that may already be forming. [5]

DIABETES AND HYPERGLYCEMIA

TUDCA may help with diabetes by making the liver and the muscles more sensitive to insulin, allowing them to use glucose more effectively and cause fewer blood sugar drops and spikes. [6]

LIVER DETOX

TUDCA can be used as a therapy for fatty liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis disease, and liver problems caused by cystic fibrosis. [10, 11, 12]

TUDCA also protects the liver from damage caused by sleep apnea. The lack of oxygen can damage organs by causing oxidative damage and increasing stress on cell structures – TUDCA prevents this liver damage and alleviates this stress. [15]

KIDNEY PROTECTION

TUDCA reduces some of the stress on the endoplasmic reticulum protecting the kidney against injury from toxins, diseases, and normal wear and tear. [16]

IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

TUDCA renders IBS symptoms less intense and improves the diversity of the bacteria in the bowels and digestive system. [17]

STROKE

While strokes will always cause some damage, people on TUDCA experience less – nearly half as much in some studies – damage from strokes and better healing over time. [18]

NERVE PROTECTION

TUDCA’s protective property is mostly for the same reasons that it protects against stroke damage – much of the nerve damage is from apoptosis, which TUDCA prevents from happening. [1, 20, 23]

TUDCA has been shown to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and to reduce their symptoms. [24]

HOW TUDCA WORKS

TUDCA is water soluble, not fat soluble like other bile salts. This means that it does not have a detergent-like effect, making it less damaging. [1]

TUDCA VS UDCA

The advantage of TUDCA is that it is better absorbed and stored by the body, meaning that a dose of TUDCA would have a larger benefit than the same dose of UDCA. [28] Therefore, TUDCA is better to take. [29]

DOSAGE

To protect the liver, about 10-13mg are used daily.

In insulin sensitivity or fatty liver, this dose can be as high as 1750mg daily.

Higher doses reduce cholesterol but have few other additional benefits or side effects. [14]

SIDE EFFECTS

The most common, and possibly the only, side effect on record is diarrhea, which is usually not severe enough to be life-threatening. [14]

DRUG INTERACTIONS

TUDCA has no reported interactions with statins or other drugs,

TUDCA vs Milk Thistle

Milk thistle can be taken with TUDCA (with caution) or on its own. However, milk thistle has a high risk of allergic reactions, higher risk of side effects, and lower effectiveness, making TUDCA a better option to take on its own. [30, 31]

Skin Biome Diagram

~Content Source – Wikipedia

Skin Biome Diagram

Actinobacteria are a group of Gram-positive bacteria with high guanine and cytosine content in their DNA, which can be terrestrial or aquatic. Though they are unicellular like bacteria, they do not have distinct cell wall, but they produce a mycelium that is nonseptate and more slender.

Proteobacteria is a major phylum of Gram-negative bacteria. They include a wide variety of pathogens, such as Escherichia, Salmonella, Vibrio, Helicobacter, Yersinia, Legionellales and many other notable genera. Others are free-living (non-parasitic) and include many of the bacteria responsible for nitrogen fixation.

Cyanobacteria also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis and are the only photosynthetic prokaryotes able to produce oxygen. The name cyanobacteria comes from the color of the bacteria.

Bacteroidetes are gram-negative bacteria that ferment polysaccharides and otherwise indigestible carbohydrates and produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that have many beneficial effects in the gut. 

Ascaris suum, an Intestinal Parasite, Produces Morphine

~Content Source-The Journal of Immunology-J Immunol July 1, 2000, 165 (1) 339-343; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.165.1.339

Abstract

The parasitic worm Ascaris suum contains the opiate alkaloid morphine as determined by HPLC coupled to electrochemical detection and by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The level of this material is 1168 ± 278 ng/g worm wet weight. Furthermore, Ascaris maintained for 5 days contained a significant amount of morphine, as did their medium, demonstrating their ability to synthesize the opiate alkaloid. To determine whether the morphine was active, we exposed human monocytes to the material, and they immediately released nitric oxide in a naloxone-reversible manner. The anatomic distribution of morphine immunoreactivity reveals that the material is in the subcuticle layers and in the animals’ nerve chords. Furthermore, as determined by RT-PCR, Ascaris does not express the transcript of the neuronal μ receptor. Failure to demonstrate the expression of this opioid receptor, as well as the morphine-like tissue localization in Ascaris, suggests that the endogenous morphine is intended for secretion into the microenvironment.

Successful parasitism, in which the host survives for extended periods, can be characterized as an equilibrium between the parasite and the host, more specifically between the host’s immune system and the parasite’s ability to create a permissive microenvironment in situ. One mechanism that a parasite may use to modify the host immune response is to down-regulate the host’s response (1, 2, 3). Capron and colleagues (4, 5, 6, 7) suggested that parasites may communicate with their hosts via common signaling molecules that diminish host immune surveillance. In this regard, morphine is generally acknowledged as an immune down-regulating agent (8). This finding is enhanced by the fact that morphine is present in several mammalian tissues, including brain and adrenal gland (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20), supporting its role as a neural or inflammatory mediator.

Recently, we have demonstrated that free-living and parasitic invertebrates produce several major opioid peptide precursors, i.e., prodynorphin, proopiomelanocortin, and proenkephalin (21). These mammalian-like opioid peptides exhibit high sequence identity to their mammalian counterparts. For example, Mytilus adrenocorticotropin has greater than 90% sequence identity with its mammalian counterpart (21). We have also identified a tentative morphine-like molecule in Schistosoma mansoni by way of radioimmunoassay (22).

Given this and the fact that the pig intestinal parasite Ascaris suum can live in its host for extended periods of time, we surmised that it might be using morphine to escape detection by the host’s immune system. In this study, we report for the first time that A. suum synthesizes morphine, thereby strengthening the common-signal molecule hypothesis, i.e., using either similar or identical host signaling to escape host immunosurveillance.

Ascaris-suum-an-Intestinal-Parasite-Produces-MorphineDownload

What if?-2019.06.24-Strange Day

Almost 2 years into this different life.

What if…It’s not us sticking our dirty fingers in our mouth that [possibility]make us sick, but our fingers become dirty, under the nails and cracks etc., from sticking them in our ears, nose and mouth?

I ask this because I have been rather shocked to see that my digital health has improved DRASTICALLY since I quit, with GREAT intentionality, sticking my fingers in my ears, nose and mouth.

The reason I started this practice was to eliminate any possibility of auto-infection of any sort happening.

Weird

Strongyloides hyper-infection causing life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding

~Content Source

In hyper-infection syndrome, complete disruption of the GI mucosa, ulcerations, paralytic ileus with exudative enteropathy as well as massive GI bleeding may also occur due to the direct invasion of the larvae. Profound diarrhea, malabsorption with consequent hypo-albuminemia and electrolyte disturbances were all consistent with hyper-infection related enteropathy in our patient. On the other hand, effective anthelminthic treatment in hyper-infected patients can lead to mass-destruction of intraluminal and intramural larvae and to release of huge amounts of different toxic inflammatory and vaso-active compounds[7,8].

Strongy-hyper-infection-causing-life-threatening-GI bleeding
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