The world of the microbiome and its macro influence on our lives

Dr. Paulina Cholewińska from the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences is associated with the Department of Sheep and Fur-Bearing Animals. She is currently leading a project as part of the "Innovative Scientist" program in collaboration with Prof. Andrzej Junkuszew and Dr. Paulina Dudko from the University of Life Sciences in Lublin. It deals with the gastrointestinal tract and skin microbiome in ruminants, taking into account breed differences.

– I am studying the sheep microbiome for two reasons. First of all, when it comes to microbiology, sheep are a great model animal for other ruminants compared to cattle, and secondly, I have been kicked in the forehead by a cow on numerous occasions – laughs Dr. Cholewińska, adding that working with sheep is definitely safer.

A microbiome is a collection of organisms consisting of bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and bacteriophages, although modern research on the microbiome usually focuses on bacteria, which are the most numerous. For example, there are about 5 bacteria per human cell. In 2011 research on the human microbiome significantly accelerated, thanks to the Human Microbiome Project. Scientists working on the project have proven that people differ in their microbiome just as they do with fingerprints. Everyone has their own individual microbiome, but microbiomes also have common features, e.g. controlled by diet or hormones that affect our health, immunity and susceptibility to various diseases, including depression.

Dr. Paulina Cholewińska wants to prove that each animal has an individual microbiome and, just like with humans, it is possible to improve their health by changing the structure of the microflora of the digestive system.

The microbiome can be improved with diet or probiotics, but these are moderately effective ways. The most effective is a fecal transplant, which may sound funny for those unaware of this method. Faeces and its derivatives were used in Chinese medicine as early as the 4th century AD. Modern methods of transplanting biological material are much safer and less disgusting than they sound.

– Today, the faeces are freeze-dried and produced in tablets. This is extremely helpful, for example, in the treatment of cancer patients. In the United States, where research in this area is highly developed, the use of standard probiotics is being discontinued. Instead, faeces are collected from healthy infants, rich in lactic acid bacteria, and administered in the form of tablets. Such tablets are made using a freeze-drying process, which involves vacuum-processing the material at a low temperature to “dry out” the bacteria but not kill them – explains Dr. Cholewinska.

Research on fecal transplants is also carried out on animals to make them healthier and require less frequent antibiotic therapy. One study – carried out on calves – involved administering a product based on the faeces of healthy calves to sick calves. It turned out to be more effective than many probiotics.

– You will usually find around 7 species of bacteria in probiotics, and the microbiome is incredibly expansive. It contains at least 4-5 permanent clusters, made up of successive families. Ruminants have about 5,000 species of bacteria, so if we add to this approx. 7 species, it does not make a significant difference – emphasises the expert from the Department of Sheep and Fur-Bearing Animals of the UPWr.

Although microbiome research is becoming more and more popular, it is still not cheap in Poland. Dr. Paulina Cholewińska admits that one of the biggest challenges is access to equipment and funding. The UPWr scientist is currently testing samples using the RT PCR method, but she would like to test them with a sequencer that is able to show the percentage of bacteria in the material tested.

And thanks to the international cooperation of universities and academic exchanges it will become possible. – I should soon have the opportunity to use the sequencer, which will make my research much easier. I am going to Germany for a six-month internship at the Technical University of Munich, where I will take part in an intercontinental project related to the WHO, together with scientists, among others, from Israel, Brazil, Norway, Germany and Croatia. The project deals with antibiotic resistance of bacteria in the environment and the impact on them, including on animals – says Dr. Cholewińska, emphasising how antibiotic resistance of bacteria is a huge problem that is relatively neglected.

By administering antibiotics to livestock, bacteria become resistant to them. When breeding fish, for example, antibiotics get into the water to which other animals have access and the transfer of resistant bacteria continues, and as a result, others become resistant. This is one of the ways that superbugs are formed.

– The resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is huge, and as scientists we have to create newer and newer drugs. It would be best to completely limit their use, but this is often impossible. That's why I am studying, among other things, the microbiome of the digestive system, which can give an incredible boost to the immune system. If you take care of the microbiome of ruminants up to the age of 3 and 4 months, it becomes stable enough that the animals become ill much less frequently afterwards, both with gastrointestinal diseases and systemic diseases," explains Dr. Paulina Cholewińska, explaining how a representative of a Brazilian scientific team admitted that in Brazil it is normal to administer a preventive antibiotic to all animals, even healthy ones. That is why this research is so important.

When asked about her plans for the future, Dr. Cholewińska jokes that she has so many that they are hard to count. Among other things, she plans to work on developing the alpaca microbiome. They are one of her favourite animals, so she is looking forward to this research. She would also like to establish more long-term cooperation with the Technical University of Munich in order to explore research on biological manipulation, i.e. fecal transplants. At her own university, Dr. Paulina Cholewińska is focusing on supporting her students. – I believe in them because they are a great strength, and our future. For example, I am currently performing preliminary fecal transplantation studies on chinchillas with them. We are going to administer freeze-dried faeces of healthy chinchillas to sick chinchillas to help them recover. My students are extremely important to me, I try to pass all my knowledge on to them, and teach them everything I know, so that they can change the world for the better - emphasises Dr. Cholewińska.