1. Human beings and microorganisms coexist peacefully, heal each other, are interdependent, and are in a state of dynamic balance.
On the surface of the human body and in the cavities that communicate with the outside world. , such as the oral and nasal systems. There are a large number of microorganisms in the throat, throat, conjunctival membrane of the eyes, intestines, genitourinary tract and other parts of the body. Some of them are long-term microorganisms that are harmless. the body's defense function is normal. They are called normal flora or normal microbiota. Normal flora is beneficial to the human body and is necessary. Normal flora is composed of fairly fixed bacteria that regularly colonize specific parts of the body and become an integral part of the organism. The number of normal flora is enormous, approximately 1014. In the long evolutionary processterm, by individual adaptation and natural selection, there are differences between the different species of the normal flora, between the normal flora and the host, and between the normal flora and the host. host. The host and the environment are always in a state of dynamic equilibrium, forming an interdependent and mutually restrictive system. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the normal flora of the human body will not cause disease in the host.
In addition to normal flora, there is also a type of flora called passing flora, also called foreign flora, which is composed of non-pathogenic or potentially pathogenic bacteria and originates from the surrounding environment or other habitats. of the host, remain in the host's body for hours, days or weeks. If the normal flora is disrupted, passing flora can multiply in a short time and cause disease.
Normal flora has many physical functionsimportant iological:
1. Such as biological antagonism between flora, normal adhesion of flora, colonization and reproduction and the formation of a bacterial film barrier. By antagonism, it inhibits and rejects the invasion and aggregation of passing bacteria, and adjusts the balance between the human body and microorganisms.
2. Immune function. Normal flora can stimulate the host to produce immunity and clearance functions.
3. Nutritional effect: Normal microorganisms in human intestine, such as Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Escherichia coli, can synthesize a variety of vitamins necessary for human growth and development, such as B vitamins and vitamin K. etc. , nutrition and participate in the metabolism of carbohydrates and proteins.
4. Detoxifying effect. For example, Bifidobacterium can reduce excess Gram-negative bacteria in the gut to levelsnormal and reduce the absorption of endotoxins.
5. Anti-tumor effect, can degrade and eliminate carcinogens in the body, activate anti-tumor cytokines in the body, etc.
6. Anti-aging effect. Bifidobacteria can stimulate the intestinal tract to produce immunoglobulins, and can also rapidly eliminate free radicals in the body and produce SOD (superoxide dismutase), etc.
The dynamic balance between humans and microorganisms is called microecological balance. Factors that affect microecological balance include external environmental factors and host factors. For example, normal flora maintains its own stability by producing bacteriocins, antibiotics, and their metabolites, and by competing for nutrients and space to prevent invasion of passing flora. When ecological balance is maintained, the normal physiological functions of humancan be maintained, such as nutrition, immunity, digestion, etc. Dysbiosis can be caused by chronic diseases, cancer, surgery, radiation infection, unreasonable use of antibiotics, etc.
2. Benefits of Microorganisms for Humans
The vast majority of microorganisms are beneficial to humans, animals and plants, and they are all necessary. If there are no microorganisms in nature, Plants will Without metabolism, it is difficult for humans and animals to survive. Under normal circumstances, infectious diseases do not occur in the human body. Under normal circumstances, the flora that resides in the human oral cavity, nasal cavity, throat cavity and digestive tract is harmless and some can resist pathogenic microorganisms. Escherichia coli living in the intestines can also provide the hote essential nutrients such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B12, vitamin K and various amino acids.
In the medical industry, many antibiotics are metabolites of microorganisms. For example, penicillin is a metabolite of Penicillium (genus of fungi). Microorganisms can also be used to produce vitamins, coenzymes, ATP and other drugs.
In daily life, the wine, vinegar, soy sauce and various pickled products we use are all produced by microbial fermentation.
3. Damage caused by microorganisms to humans
The ecological balance between normal flora and the host can be disrupted under certain circumstances, causing ecological imbalance and leading to disease. In this way, normal flora that does not cause disease under normal circumstances becomes pathogenic bacteria. This conditionspecific mainly includes the following types:
1. Residence site changes, such as Escherichia coli entering the urinary tract from the intestine where it originally resided, or entering the abdominal cavity or bloodstream through an incision during surgery.
2. If immune function is low, the host uses a large amount of immunosuppressants, such as hormones, anticancer drugs, and radiation therapy, which can cause a complete reduction in immune function, causing part of the immune function to pass. normal flora through barriers such as mucous membranes. the original residence site and enter the tissues or Various diseases occur in the bloodstream and severe cases can lead to sepsis and death.
3. Normal flora dysbiosis is a condition in which the proportion of various bacterial species in the normal floraof a certain part of the host changes significantly and exceeds the normal range.
When the bacterial flora is unbalanced, it can often cause serious infections or secondary infections. This phenomenon is caused by the emergence of another new pathogenic bacteria in the process of treating infectious diseases, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas cepacia, etc., all of which use a large number of third-generation bacteria. This phenomenon occurs when cephalosporins or carbapenase antibiotics are used. The mechanism is that after the application of these antibacterial drugs, most of the normal flora is killed or inhibited, while a small number of unfavorable flora or foreign drug-resistant bacteria take advantage to multiply and cause disease. . include gold** Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, etc.
4. All of mebe implemented to maintain the ecological balance between the human body and microorganisms
It is only by maintaining the ecological balance between the human body and microorganisms that the human body may not suffer from infections. diseases. The principle is: respect the microecological balance. Follow the laws of nature, take advantage of the situation, protect the natural ecological environment, improve immunity, cultivate normal flora and improve colonization capacity. Concretely, we can start from the following four aspects:
1. Protect the microecological environment (1) The disease state of the host often causes microecological imbalance, so the disease state must be removed to help maintain the microecological environment. Diseases of the digestive system, respiratory system, endocrine system, circulatory system, genitourinary system and other parts of the body can be accompanied by un microbial imbalance. In order to restore a normal microbiome, it is essential to cure or alleviate these primary diseases. such as achlorhydria or liver diseases. Diseases often cause bacterial overgrowth in the upper part of the small intestine, causing intestinal disease. Only by curing achlorhydria and liver diseases can small intestine diseases be eradicated. purpose of the processing. (2) Remove abnormal anatomical structures from the body. Abnormal anatomical structures of the host body are also common causes of imbalance in the microecological environment. For example, gastrectomy, intestinal resection, colon replacement, etc. can cause abnormal anatomical structures and lead to abnormal anatomical structures. normal flora. Dysbiosis, pernicious anemia, vitamin deficiency, malabsorption syndrome and l imbalancehe bacterial flora can cause pernicious anemia and other diseases as secondary causes.
2. Improve host immunity. If the host's immunity is reduced, it is easy to induce an imbalance of bacterial flora and cause excessive production and accumulation of bacterial toxins, which will negatively affect the host. It can be seen that high host immunity can reduce the occurrence of endogenous toxins. infections. Additionally, the nutritional status of the host is also an important factor in maintaining the balance between the host and normal flora. Nutritional imbalance or nutritional changes can affect the normal microbial flora and lead to dysbiosis. Strengthening and improving nutritional status can improve the body's immunity.
3. Rational use of antibacterial drugs. Abuse, misuse or irrational application of medicationsantibacterial agents will cause the following negative consequences: (1) Microecological imbalance and bacterial flora imbalance. Antibacterial drugs not only kill pathogenic bacteria, but also kill "natural" pathogenic bacteria. enemies" - beneficial bacteria (normal flora). Once bacteria in one part of the body are killed, bacteria from other parts of the body or outside the body will take advantage (passing bacteria) and enter the body, multiplying in large numbers and causing diseases Such as common secondary infections, pseudomembranous colitis, acute hemorrhagic enteritis, Candida infection, etc., gastrointestinal infections. Antibiotics can easily lead to vitamin B and K deficiency. (2) Antibiotic resistance Many people view antimicrobial drugs as d.u “Taiwan balsam”. They use antimicrobial drugs without distinction, regardless of the disease, infectious or not. They think that the higher the grade, the better and the more serious the disease. dose, the better. Don't you know that bacteria must adapt to the changing environment outside, and the body's genes will mutate to resist destruction by antibacterial drugs. This is bacterial resistance, which is also a natural phenomenon. However, abuse, misuse and irrational application have accelerated the emergence of bacterial resistance, and some bacteria have gradually evolved into "superbugs". (3) Aggravate the body's toxic reactions, such as nervous system toxic reactions, hematopoietic system reactions, liver and kidney toxic reactions, gastrointestinal toxic reactions, etc. These toxic reactions worsen theresponse to damage in the body and also damage the balance of microecology.
4． Using microecological therapy, microecological balance therapy refers to medical measures that promote the transformation of microecological imbalance composed of normal microorganisms, the host and the environment into a normal balance. It includes two major measures (1) Ecotherapy using antibacterial drugs, ie. the use of antimicrobial drugs to treat pathogenic diseases. Bacteria-sensitive antibiotics can selectively kill or inhibit pathogenic bacteria and prevent endogenous infections. (2) Ecotherapy using microecological regulators, which include probiotics and their metabolites and growth promoting factors.
The use of microecological therapy has been successful, particularly in the treatment of bacterial imbalanceof the gastrointestinal system, and microecological therapy in other systems is being investigated.