New findings on
E. coli offer a clue to why recurrent but short-lived episodes of diarrhea could lead to long-term nutritional problems.
For people in wealthy countries, diarrhea is usually nothing more than an uncomfortable inconvenience for a few days. But for a poor child in a developing country, repeated bouts of diarrhea can lead to serious health consequences such as malnutrition, stunted growth, and cognitive deficits.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that a toxin produced by the diarrhea-inducing bacterium
Escherichia coli (
E. coli) has other effects on the human digestive tract. The toxin, they find, changes gene expression in the cells that line the inside of the gut, inducing them to manufacture a protein that the bacterium then uses to attach to the intestinal wall.
Updated Dec 14, 2020 | 11:02 IST
The toxin produced by the Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacterium which causes diarrhoea could lead to long-term nutritional problems. Short-term episodes of diarrhoea could lead to long-term nutritional problems, study claims | Photo Credit: Pixabay
Washington: A study published in proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that the toxin produced by the Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacterium which causes diarrhoea could lead to long-term nutritional problems.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that a toxin which leads to recurrent of short-term diarrhoea episodes could have other effects on the human digestive tract as it changes gene expression in the cells that line the inside of the gut, inducing them to manufacture a protein that the bacterium then uses to attach to the intestinal wall.
Short-term episodes of diarrhea could lead to long-term nutritional problems, study claims aninews.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aninews.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Diarrhoea long-term effects digestive system bangladeshsun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bangladeshsun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.