Final Exam Flashcards
(212 cards)
T or F. We start life in a sterile womb environment
T! All our bacteria come from environment; initial colonization is at birth
Colonization
- establishment of microbial flora starts at birth (flora changes as we age)
- begins at birth
- sources: vaginal birth canal
Gut microflora differs depending on country of birth
- Developing world in a rough swath = more E. coli as primary colonizers
- Developed world = lactobacilli and Lactococcus are primary colonizers
Purposes of normal flora
- protection from pathogens (competitive exclusion)
- required for developmental processes (involved in development of gut by modulating gene expression)
- provide vitamins and nutrients (E. coli = vit K and 90% of our serotonin is bacterially produced ; can also digest certain fibers and lactose)
- aids in digestion (trains immune system (NTBF) to distinguish b/w flora and pathogens and you! (SELF))
- modulates the immune system
NTBF excluding its cousin, ETBF
NTBF produces a perforin-like toxin (T6SS - bacterial warfare) to kill its cousin (ETBF)
- Perforin-like toxin is a TLR2 agonist and it suppresses immune system
=> suppresses immune system against particularly good bacteria and so the agonist is encouraged to say don’t attack me .. Im normal.. Don’t recognise other good bacteria as normal
- ETBF = associated/not causative with increased risk of colitis (disruption in ability to absorb nutrients in large intestine = malnourishment, diarrhea), if see decrease in NTBF then flourishing of ETBF and increase risk of colitis and so they think that ppl prone to colitis will be due to antibiotic use
C. diff
- pseudomembranous colitis
- most frequent cause of infectious diarrhea in hospitals and LTC facilities in Canada
- lots of antibiotic resistance now
- Gram + spore former
- 3 toxins = TcdA, TcdB, and CDT
C. diff’s Tcd’s toxins
Tcd’s are glucosyl transferases = inactivate G protein that signal tissue integrity = loss of junctions b/w epithelial cells = leakage! => Rho and Rak GTPases inactivated through glycosylation activity
C. diff’s CDT toxin
- dimer and is a binary toxin
- acts as a ribosyl transferase = transferring a ribose
- modifies microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton to facilitate microvilli extension and pathogen invasion
- fuzzy villi = unable to absorb nutrients and more area for pathogen adhesion/invasion
T or F. Bacteria in gut produce 90% of feel good neurotransmitter
T!
Hygiene hypothesis
Exposure to normal flora keep immune system on idle; excessive hygiene can lead to not training your immune system to not be able to distinguish between what’s bad/good => hyperactive immune system => autoimmune disease
Fibre
Fibre feeds good microbes (fibre fermented by microbes in gut to butyrate - regulates reg T cells which prevents autoimmune rxns)
- sugar feeds bad microbe
MS
- Multiple sclerosis - common in AB; attack on myelin sheath
- rare disease in areas with a high helminth burden
Helminths for MS?
If expose patients w MS to helminths => symptoms improve .. Now have helminth infection but better than MS?
Probiotics
live bacteria that are consumed ; yogurts, kimchi, sauerkraut
Do probiotics work?
Probably not that well! Depends on who you are ..
Won’ t hurt if you just were on antibiotics, diarrhea, etc.
Prebiotics
food for bacteria; they work!!!
- any fiber = but esp inulin fiber - onions, leeks, garlic, seaweed, cabbage, kimchi
Pandemic
worldwide epidemic
Biggest virus
- Pox virus
- 1/3 size of bacterium
- one of the first tests = filter; if can pass through 0.45 micrometers - unlikely to be bacteria
T or F. DNA viruses have a lower mutation rate than RNA viruses
T
- RNA virus (coronavirus) can mutate and the smaller the virus, the less likely it has the ability to correct mutations
The _______ the virus the less likely that it uses its ______ to encode things that can correct mistakes
smaller; genome
What does a virus need?
- to be able to enter a host cell
- have the host cell replicate the viral genetic material
- have the host cell transcribe and translate the viral genes
-> once all the virus components are made, the infectious viral particle (VIRION) can be assembled
Case fatality rate of yellow fever
~20%
River’s Postulates
- modified Koch’s postulates
1. isolation of virus from diseased hosts
2. cultivation of virus in host cells
3. proof of filterability (confirms small size)
4. production of a comparable disease when used to infect experimental animals (host animal or related)
5. re-isolation of the same virus from the infected host
6. detection of a specific immune response to the virus
All viruses follow a general strategy: (3)
- package their genomes inside a particle that mediates transmission from host to host
- virus genome contains the info for an infectious cycle within a susceptible permissive cell (for some viruses = only nucleic acid is necessary)
- all viruses are able to establish themselves in a host population so that their survival is ensured