Gut Microbiome Impacts Efficacy Of Anti-Diabetes Drugs: Top 5 Foods To Consume For Healthy Gut

Highlights

Gut bacteria may impact the efficacy of anti-diabetes drugs
Bacterial enzymes process drugs before they enter blood stream
Foods like yogurt, kommucha are good for the gut

You may be aware of the presence of bacteria in your gut, which are said to have a significant impact on your overall health and fitness. A healthy growth of gut microbiome is said to facilitate digestion, enhance immunity and is also said to be important for keeping skin troubles at bay. Now a study has found that gut bacteria may impact the efficacy of anti-diabetes drugs as well. The study looked at the reason behind the fact that orally-administered diabetes drugs work for some people, but not for others, saying that the bacteria that make up a diabetic's gut microbiome may hold the answer to the question. The study was conducted by a team of scientists of the Wake Forest University in the US, which also included one scientist of Indian origin.

The study, published in the journal EBioMedicine, looked at how gut microbes enhanced or inhibited the action of a particular drug for diabetics. Talking about the premise of the study, Hariom Yadav, Assistant Professor from the varsity said, "Certain drugs work fine when given intravenously and go directly to the circulation, but when they are taken orally and pass through the gut, they do not work." He added by saying, "Conversely, metformin, a commonly used anti-diabetes drug, works best when given orally but does not work when given through an IV." The team examined the interactions between the most commonly used diabetes drugs and the gut microbiome and discovered that before they were ingested into the bloodstream, these drugs were first processed by the enzymes secreted by microbiota. So in effect, the gut microbiome influences the metabolisation of the drugs, which in turn affects the response of the diabetics' bodies to it.

Concluding the role of microbiome in the metabolism of diabetes drugs, Yadav said, "Our review showed that the metabolic capacity of a patient's microbiome could influence the absorption and function of these drugs by making them pharmacologically active, inactive or even toxic." He however, accepted that there are some limitations to the study, adding that the differences in a person's microbiome "help explain why drugs will show a 90 or 50 per cent optimum efficacy, but never 100 per cent."