Host: The Japanese Society of Toxicology
Name : The 50th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology
Date : June 19, 2023 - June 21, 2023
The intestines of humans and animals contain an extremely large number of microorganisms, most of which have a symbiotic relationship with the hosts. The microbial environment in the gut has a significant impact on the health of the host, and disturbances have a negative impact on their heath. The brain-gut interaction indicates that the state of the brain correlates with the gut, or the state of the gut also affects the brain. Therefore, it is understandable that deterioration of the microbial environment in the gut can be a factor in causing neuropsychiatric as well as other mental disorders. In addition, the microbial environment in the gut has a relationship not only to disease but also to the immune functions. For example, the microbial environment in the intestine is closely related to the intestinal immunity. In fact, the immune function in the gut of animals raised in a normal environment is rarely observed in animals maintained in germ-free facilities. We have found that the microbial environment of the intestine also has a significant impact on maternal antibody production in breast milk. Specifically, certain microorganisms present in the gut promote immune activation in the gut, resulting in the accumulation of antibody-producing cells from the gut to the mammary glands. In this presentation, I will explain the recent understanding of the relationship between immune function and the intestinal environment, and introduce the novel research aimed at enhancing the immune function of breast milk by improving the intestinal microbial environment.
