Published 10.2.2021
Writer: Leena Hulsi

Pentti Huovinen became interested in bacteria already during his years as a young student. The inspiration was a lecture on pharmacology and the knowledge that antibiotics had begun to lose their efficacy. His initial interest in the subject was sealed when, at the age of 21, Huovinen expressed his desire to research the topic further to the then Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Turku.  In almost four decades, Huovinen’s interest in bacteria has not wavered – quite the opposite, in fact.

‘The amount of information about bacteria is now being compiled at an overwhelming pace. The latest research information is surprising and opens up an enormous number of doors in terms of understanding the pathogenesis of many diseases and, as a result, their treatment’, says Pentti Huovinen, Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Turku.

Huovinen is particularly well-known for his research work related to the antibiotic resistance of bacteria, but his interest in bacteria extends even further. 

‘Already back at the time I was studying, we knew that there is an enormous amount of different types of bacteria in our intestines, but not all of them could be cultivated in the laboratory at that time. I remember asking my teacher about the function of these bacteria, but I never got a definitive answer. We didn’t know very much about the bacteria then, because we didn’t have the means to study them’, explains Huovinen.

Nowadays, the situation is quite different, and top scientific journals are constantly publishing more and increasingly interesting research results about the impacts of gut bacteria on our health. Their significance is reflected in the fact that, among others, the distinguished Nature magazine published an article on the topic under the title A field is born.  

‘Gut bacteria have proven to be a necessary organ for our bodies. As a collective organ, their metabolism is highly active and they have an effect on many other organs. Last year, I participated in a symposium in Miami, where the gurus in the field presented the link between microbiome and different diseases and, on the other hand, the ability of bacteria to cure. The event was truly interesting.’

Huovinen’s work, Parantavat bakteerit (Healing bacteria), which was published at the start of the year, is also extremely interesting.

‘This brand new book is a summary of everything we have discovered to this point. It includes the research results and assessments of many top names in the field, so the list of references is also worth a look’, adds Huovinen.

 

Nurture your bacteria with the right nutrition

Since the time of Hippocrates, the medical field has recognised the significance of diet on our health, but it wasn’t until now that we have had the ability to explain why that is.

‘It’s often said that we are what we eat. A more precise expression would be, however, that we are what bacteria produce from the foods we eat. Bacteria appear to have a considerably greater significance to our health than we ever could have imagined’, says Huovinen.

For gut bacteria and, therefore, our health, it is essential to eat daily at least six handfuls of berries, root vegetables and other vegetables. The fibre in vegetables is important, because bacteria use it to produce short-chain fatty acids, which is the nutrient needed by all cells. 

‘If bacteria do not get fibre, they will begin to eat away the protective mucus lining of the gut. This leads to the thinning of the intestinal wall, which increases the likelihood of developing an inflammatory response, or dysbiosis. If an inflammatory response occurs, your health will begin to suffer.

The nutrition we eat affects both our range of gut bacteria and the metabolism and functions of bacteria. A unilateral diet, lack of exercise and alienation from nature cause changes to our gut bacteria that explain the increased commonality of different types of inflammatory diseases.

‘Dysbiosis is suspected as having a connection to many diseases for which inflammation plays a key role in terms of their generation and aggravation. It also appears to have a connection to obesity and metabolic syndrome diseases, allergies and asthma, inflammatory bowel diseases, cardiovascular diseases, depression and certain central nervous system diseases, such as Alzheimer's.

 

Precision treatment using bacteria

The megatrends in health care emphasise the effective prevention of diseases and the inclusion of the patients in fostering their own health. The visions for future health care centre largely around digitalisation and artificial intelligence, but the discussion should now also include the latest research indicating the impacts of bacteria on our health.

‘Preliminary research results show that the causes behind many of the diseases encumbering our health care system are ultimately found in our gut. It might be a good idea, as part of the process of determining a patient’s health status and achieving better treatment results, to routinely take both blood tests and a bacteria screen and to learn how to optimally utilise the data collected.’

According to Huovinen, eating as recommended by the food pyramid is, on average, a good idea, but it isn’t necessarily sufficient, for example, to correct the disease state caused by dysbiosis.

‘In addition to a healthy diet, we need the right types of bacteria to support our health and protect us from diseases. There is no universally applicable nutrition programme, because each person’s gut bacteria are unique. We need to know what we start with before we can begin to make adjustments that will improve the health of our gut bacteria’, explains Huovinen. 

Huovinen’s work, Parantavat bakteerit, presents several interesting studies that help us to understand the diverse impacts of bacteria on our health. The connection between gut bacteria and, for example, obesity is described well in the featured case report ‘Kuinka lihava professori laihtui (How did the fat professor lose weight?)’ 

The adjustment of gut bacteria has had promising results, also in connection with diseases that currently don’t have a cure. One such disease is ALS, which destroys the motor neurons in our spinal cord.

‘The results are still in the early stages, so we cannot say anything yet for sure. I feel it would, however, be foolish not to study this more, since it could potentially lead to a cure for a currently incurable disease.’

 

An intriguing future

Gut bacteria and their health impact are a new area of medicine, in which Huovinen has great expectations.

‘I believe that, in the future, we will advance our health and prevent illnesses through a varied, fibre-rich and, above all, individually designed diet. We will learn to know the effects of medicines on bacteria and to utilise this knowledge to tailor individual care and treatments. We will avoid unnecessary rounds of antibiotics and endeavour to protect our gut bacteria’, Huovinen lists.

Gut bacteria may also affect the severity of coronavirus infections.

Faecal transplantation has long been used to treat difficult cases of antibiotic diarrhoea with good results, but the emergence of medicinal bacteria-based products is still a ways away.

‘I view the research work in this area as being at least as important as the development of traditional medicines, since bacteria are truly curative’, states Huovinen, who is counted among the pioneers in the field.

 

 

 

 

 

The book Parantavat bakteerit (Healing bacteria) by Pentti Huovinen, Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Turku, was published in January. It presents several interesting studies that help us to understand the diverse impacts of intestinal bacteria on our health.