A reader asked me to do a research dive and post on Estrobolome. This is likely a new word for most of my readers as it was for myself.

” estrobolome, the gut bacterial genes capable of metabolizing estrogens in both healthy individuals and in women diagnosed with estrogen-driven breast cancer ” [2016]

or a more technical definition

 “the aggregate of enteric bacterial genes whose products are capable of metabolizing estrogens”  [2011]

This visual may put things is a clearer perspective: [2016 src]

“Recent research suggests that the microbiota of women with breast cancer differs from that of healthy women, indicating that certain bacteria may be associated with cancer development and with different responses to therapy.”[2018]

The differences of genes determine what happens with estrogens.

• “In the human GI tract, the BG gene is well represented in the bacterial phyla Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes whereas gus is more common in Firmicutes” [2012]

The technical details are  ß-glucuronidase and/or ß-galactosidase +, on which we have some basic taxonomy information [2012]

I will be adding this information to http://microbiomeprescription.azurewebsites.net analysis under

Example:

Additional Literature

• “Relative abundances of the order Clostridiales and the genus Bacteroideswere directly and inversely related with the ratio estrogen metabolites to estrogen parents, respectively.” [2014]
• ” However, Methylobacterium radiotolerans was the most significantly enriched and the most prevalent (100% of samples) in tumor tissues, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae(95% of samples) in paired normal tissues. ” [2014]
• ” Authors only found higher abundance of Escherichia coli in [cancer] cases compared with healthy controls. [2014]
• “Absolute numbers of Bifidobacterium and Blautia, and proportion of F Prausnitzii and Blautia were significantly different according to clinical stages [of cancer]. Women with grade III had increased absolute numbers of Blautia sp. compared to women with grade I.
  Significant differences were also found in the absolute numbers of total bacteria and some bacterial groups (F prausnitzii, Firmicutes, Blautia and Egerthella), according to BMI.” [2015]
• “Relative abundance of several taxa differed between cases and control: case patients had higher levels of Clostridiaceae, Faecalibacterium, and Ruminococcaceae; and lower levels of Dorea and Lachnospiraceae. ” [2015]

We are still in hypothesis land

” In conclusion, links between the microbiome and estrogen-driven breast cancer are growing, and we hope that research will identify specific characteristics of the gut microbiome that can be used to develop novel approaches for breast cancer risk assessment, prevention, and treatment.” [2016]

Bottom Line

The concept of microbiome influencing estrogen and possibly many cancers seems to be growing in popularity with researchers.  The microbiome shifts for different cancers are likely to be different and is a topic that is likely worth returning to in a year when the body of research would be  far greater.

A reader shared their very recent lab results from   GI-MAP DNA Stool Analysis . I found at the bottom of their report something new that I wished was seen on other reports that I have reviewed. The antibiotic resistant genes found in the sample. It appears to have been added in 2018 (2018 Sample Report)

Genes transfer between bacteria, so it is rarely a case of the gene being in one taxonomy only.

“Bacteria can share genes with each other in a process called horizontal gene transfer. This can occur both between bacteria of the same species and between different species and by several different mechanisms, given the right conditions. Gene transfer results in genetic variation in bacteria and is a large problem when it comes to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes…..For example, if a bacterium picks up an antibiotic resistance gene and is subsequently exposed to that antibiotic, this bacterium will be better off than susceptible neighbors and can increase in number.” [Src]

A video on this topic.

Bottom Line

Antibiotic resistance is not new. A study on Monks DNA from a 1000 years ago found that the genes were there! [Src] [Summary] – Four monks who lived in the Middle Ages (about 950-1200) and were buried at the monastery of Dalheim, Germany.

“The team found a lot of other interesting things. They also sequenced the genetic material of one of the disease bacteria, T. Forsythia, and found that it has several antibiotic resistance genes.

”This is the first time we see fossil samples from humans with bacteria that have antibiotic resistance – long before we started producing antibiotics industrially,” says Cappellini.

Most antibiotics come from bacteria. Bacteria acquiring resistance to other bacteria is expected in the endless fight between bacteria.

When it comes to dealing with a gut dysfunction, it is likely a good idea to determine what resistance exists in the gut bacteria. A mismatch can easily contribute to further imbalance.

A reader wrote:

A reader is dealing with an antibiotic resistant abscess which have kept recurring after several courses of different antibiotics. She wrote because the latest escalation had a risk of  C. difficile. Actually, it is Peptoclostridium difficile  and not Clostridium difficile, because it has been recently reclassified.

• Peptoclostridium difficile (55.66% of Samples) species
  • Clostridioides difficile NAP07 (0% of Samples) strain
  • Clostridioides difficile NAP08 (0% of Samples) strain
  • Peptoclostridium difficile (strain CD196) (0% of Samples) strain

The first harsh reality is that 55% of people have some of this bacteria…. so the issue is whether this bacteria will seize the opportunity to expand to clinically significant levels.

• “Clostridium difficile is the leading infectious cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colitis. C. difficile infection (CDI) places a heavy burden on the healthcare system, with nearly half a million infections yearly and an approximate 20% recurrence risk after successful initial therapy. ” [2018]
• “Probiotic use did not appear to attenuate the odds of CDI in patients exposed to high-risk antibiotics, but moderate-risk antibiotics appeared to significantly attenuate the odds of CDI in patients who received probiotics.” [2018]
  • “From the perspective of the medical system, oral probiotics as a preventive strategy for CDAD in hospitalized children and adolescents receiving a therapeutic course of antibiotics reduced the risk of CDAD and represents a cost-saving strategy.” [2018]
• ” C. difficile infection incidence in the United States has increased dramatically since 2000. In the United States ” [2018]
  • “Outbreaks of hypervirulent strains of Clostridium difficile began to be reported in healthcare facilities worldwide around 20 years ago. Concurrently, trehalose became a common additive used by the global food industry. A new study provides evidence that these two observations are a linked phenomenon [2018]

Using the http://microbiomeprescription.azurewebsites.net site, we find that the following reduces this bacteria according to studies:

• melatonin supplement
• aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid)
• plantain bananas
• Bismuth Salts
• bile (acid/salts)
• bifidobacterium longum and lactobacillus helveticus (probiotics)
• lactobacillus reuteri (probiotics)
• pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6)
• thiamine hydrochloride (vitamin B1)
• vitamin b3 (niacin)
• vitamin b7 biotin (supplement) (vitamin B7)

And the following should be avoided:

• glucose (sugar)
• d-trehalose (sugar)

Bottom Line

A sugar-free (or at least reducing sugar content) diet is the first suggestion. Increased vitamin B supplementation and melatonin is also suggested. Adding 1-3 bananas a day may also be beneficial as well as making food from scratch (i.e. no prepared foods due to trehalose additives). Evidence for probiotics is generally deemed weak in all of the latest studies.

NOTES:

• On prepared foods, trehalose may not be explicitly labelled, rather included under “sugar”.
• Trehalose occurs naturally in small amounts in mushrooms, honey, lobsters, shrimps, certain seaweeds (algae), wine, beer, bread and other foods produced by using baker’s or brewer’s yeast ^[3].
• Trehalose is heat stable and preserves the cell structure of foods after heating and freezing, so it is used as a food texturizer and stabilizer in dried foods, frozen foods, nutrition bars, fruit fillings and jams, instant noodles and rice, white chocolate, sugar coating, bakery cream, processed seafood and fruit juices ^[3,4].

Some readers discovered some bugs with the Thryve upload. I believe the identified issues are fixed.

If you have done a Thryve upload in the past, you may wish to delete your old data and upload again. There was one scenario where some numbers may have been under reported in the upload.