Faecalibacterium prausnitzii
Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is a strict-anaerobe Firmicute, and one of the most abundant butyrate-making bacteria in a healthy adult colon. It often makes up several percent of your fecal microbiota. The butyrate it produces feeds your colon-lining cells (colonocytes) and supports calming, regulatory immune signals. The original Sokol 2008 PNAS study of Crohn's disease patients found that a low amount of it on the gut lining raised the risk of relapse after surgery. The species, or its broth, also calmed inflammation in lab dishes and in colitis models. Since then, a drop in F. prausnitzii has been confirmed in inflammatory bowel disease, especially ileal Crohn's, and seen in groups with type 2 diabetes and depression. It is now treated as a next-generation probiotic candidate.
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Sources
- Sokol H, Pigneur B, Watterlot L, et al.. (2008). Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is an anti-inflammatory commensal bacterium identified by gut microbiota analysis of Crohn disease patients. *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA*doi:10.1073/pnas.0804812105
- Zhou Y, Xu H, Xu J, et al.. (2021). Faecalibacterium prausnitzii: a next-generation probiotic in gut disease improvement. *Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology*doi:10.1155/2021/6666114