メディエイゴ

Offering another reason why eating red meat(1) could be bad for you, an international research team, including University of California, San Diego School of Medicine professor Ajit Varki, M.D.(2), has uncovered(3) the first example of a bacterium(4) that causes food poisoning(5) in humans when it targets a non-human(6) molecule(7) absorbed into the body through red meats such as lamb, pork and beef.

In findings to be published on line October 29th in advance of(8) print in the journal Nature, the scientists discovered that a potent(9) bacterial toxin(10) called subtilase cytotoxin(11) specifically(12) targets human cells(13) that have a non-human, cellular(14) molecule on their surface. The molecule –N-glycolylneuraminic acid(15) (Neu5Gc) – is a type of glycan(16), or sugar(17) molecule, that humans don’t naturally produce.

Subtilase cytotoxinis produced by certain kinds of E. coli bacteria(18), causing bloody diarrhea(19) and a potentially(20) fatal disease(21) called haemolytic uraemic syndrome(22) (HUS) in humans. Humans usually become infected(23) after eating contaminated(24) red meat, which is why this is also known as “hamburger(25)” disease.

Varki, UC San Diego School of Medicine distinguished professor(26) of medicine and cellular and molecular medicine(27), and co-director(28) of the UCSD Glycobiology(29) Research and Training Center, previously discovered that humans don’t produce Neu5Gc because they lack the gene(30) responsible for(31) its production. Therefore, it was thought that humans should be resistant to(32) the toxin(33).

“Ironically(34), humans may set themselves up for(35) an increased risk of illness from this kind of E. coli bacteria present in contaminated red meat or dairy(36), because these very same products have high-levels of Neu5Gc,” Varki explained.