New Delhi: Scientists from the University of East Anglia have discovered a link between gut health and the immune system. The researchers studied a small songbird found on Cousin Island in the Seychelles called the Seychelles Warbler. The scientists collected guano, or the bodily waste from the birds to analyse their gut bacteria, and discovered that the immune genes influence which gut microbes thrive. The research shed lights on how animal immune systems coevolve with communities of beneficial gut bacteria, a process that occurred in humans as well. In turn, the microbes help support and train the immune systems of the animals.
Cousin Island is small and isolated, with the warblers never leaving, allowing for every bird on the island to be marked and tracked throughout its life, providing scientists with the opportunity of investigating life-long biological processes in the wild. All of the warblers on the islands are fitted with coloured leg rings, allowing researchers to track their behaviour, health and genetics, creating conditions similar to a laboratory population in a natural setting. The researchers focused on a group of genes known as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), that plays a role in the immune defence of most vertebrates, including humans.
Findings are applicable to humans as well
Using sophisticated modelling and statistical approaches the researchers examined how specific regions of the MHC were associated with difference in the gut microbiome. The researchers also examined what the bacteria were doing, including their involvement in metabolism, nutrient processing and building immunity. The findings reveal that immune genes shared by all vertebrates interact closely with gut bacteria, through a two-way relationship. Although the research was carried out on birds, the researchers stress that the underlying biological mechanisms are shared widely across animals, including humans. The findings may guide future research into immunity, gut health and diseases. A paper describing the research has been published in Microbiome.