B12 vs colitis

Spanish researchers were looking at how the body regenerates and reprograms its tissues when they noticed something odd in the gut biota. The bacteria in mice’s colons “presented changes indicative of a shortage of [vitamin] B12.”

You know the most important phrase in science: “That’s odd.” So they tried giving the mice B12 supplements, and they found that it increased the efficiency of that reprogramming.

In other words, vitamin B12 was essential to cellular repair, and supplementing it helped speed the process.

Then they took it further and tested it on mice with ulcerative colitis. (The body’s intestinal repair system is similar to cellular reprogramming.) What d’ya know, “[T]hey reported vitamin B12 supplementation accelerated tissue repair in the mouse model of ulcerative colitis.”

Right now the mechanism isn’t entirely understood, but the Spaniards are at least comfortable saying that low levels of B12 could slow the intestines’ ability to repair themselves.

Don’t forget to think of a great pharmacy pro

Instead of making a New Year’s resolution to do something nice for a colleague, why not save yourself the trouble and nominate someone for a slick 2024 GPhA award — from a Student Pharmacist of the Year to someone who deserves the Bowl of Hygeia. We need your nominations!

Nominations only take a few minutes (but you can spend some more time to really sell ’em). The award winners will be announced at the 2024 Georgia Pharmacy Convention.

Head over to GPhA.org/awards to see the list of awards, the criteria, and how to nominate someone. The deadline for nominations is January 19, 2024, so don’t wait too long!

Vaccines in nursing homes

The CDC has released the latest results of its data on vaccine uptake in nursing homes. The basics:

• Flu vaccines have the highest uptake, ranging from about 23% to 43% depending on the state.
• Covid vaccination is next on the popularity list, followed by RSV.
• Despite being the most vulnerable to RSV, only about 6% of Georgians in nursing homes have been vaccinated.
• The smaller the nursing home, the greater the vaccination rate, but it was still low across the board.

The low RSV vaccine uptake could be a result of its relative newness, implementation challenges, limited time to train providers and develop protocols, and less staff familiarity with the risk of outbreaks and severe disease.

What’s in your intestinal tract?

Anxiety from the gut

What can having the wrong gut bacteria do for you? How about cause social anxiety?

Irish researchers found that people with social anxiety disorder (SAD, as opposed to seasonal affective disorder (SAD)) have a different collection of bacteria in their guts.

That in mind, they channeled their inner sadists and transplanted those microbes into mice to see what would happen. What happened is that the mice had “an increased response to social fear.”

To investigate social fear, the team gave the mice small electric shocks when they approached a new mouse, and then observed how the animals behaved around new mice when the shocks were no longer applied.

The ones with healthy microbes got over their anxiety quickly, while “those with microbes from people with SAD continued to be fearful of approaching other mice.”

“They never fully recovered to be able to be social again.” Science!

From guts to bones

What can having the wrong gut bacteria do for you? How about cause osteoporosis? That’s what Tulane researchers discovered after examining 517 peri- and post-menopausal Chinese women.

It’s all about valeric acid, which is important for keeping bones healthy. A common gut bacteria called Bacterioides vulgatus interferes with the production of valeric acid, and that can lead to brittle bones and possibly osteoporosis.

Bad news: Giving your gut the right bacteria isn’t easy no matter which yogurts you eat, and B. vulgatus is too common to eliminate easily.

Good news: “Mice that received valeric acid supplements, however, saw reduced bone resorption and stronger bones overall.”

Reality check: This doesn’t mean anyone should rush out to buy Valerian root or sprinkle their Cheerios with valeric acid powder. It just means that — wait for it — more research is needed.