Brothers at heart, sisters by blood, friends for life… The expressions used to designate our loved ones show how much we share with them. Meals, leisure and events connect us. According to a new scientific study, microbes too, to the point that our intestinal microbiota (better known as “intestinal flora”) can draw a detailed portrait of our social life.
Led by researchers Francesco Beghini and Jackson Pullman of Yale University (United States), the study examined the social interactions of adults living in isolated villages in Honduras, comparing them with detailed analyzes of the intestinal microbiota of each participant. An article from ScienceAlert reports the results.
Beghini and Pullman’s work is drawn from a larger project started in 2013, in collaboration with local public health agencies. The data collected was used not only for the study, but also to provide diagnosis and treatment to participants who needed it. The sociologist and doctor on the research team, Nicholas Christakis, puts it this way: “It was a long labor of love, if you can use that expression to illustrate the collection of hundreds of stool samples from the remote jungle villages of Honduras.”
“Sharing microorganisms can be good or bad” depending on the circumstances
For the study, the team of researchers focused on data from eighteen isolated villages: “We wanted to study isolated populations, where social bonds are created within a limited community”explains Nicholas Christakis. In the future, scientists plan to conduct similar studies in other geographic areas, but the researcher believes this study in Honduras already offers universal insight: “We think the results are quite general, not necessarily location-specific, and shed light on how human social interactions shape the nature and effects of gut microbiota.”
Researchers have found that species and strains of microorganisms are shared not only within families, but also with other relatives such as friends. Also, the more social relationships a person has, the more their intestinal flora is similar to that of the entire village. For people who have few interactions, it is almost certain that this influences the composition of their microbiota: “If you are physically and therefore socially isolated, you have a composition of the intestinal microbiota different from that of the village”, says Nicholas Christakis.
As with many biological discoveries, researchers do not know whether, in the future, the results will be positive or negative for the human species. According to Nicholas Christakis, “sharing intestinal flora is neither good nor bad. But the sharing of the micro-organisms which compose it, in particular circumstances, can be good or bad. He illustrates this argument with the example of antibiotics: “After taking antibiotics, the intestines may be emptied of microorganisms and must be rebuilt to function properly. This reconstruction is often done through social interactions.”
Source: www.slate.fr
