Bilophila wadsworthia - the harmful anaerobic rod

Bilophila wadsworthia. Source: Lu-Shu Yeh

Our main character today is Bilophila wadsworthia, a Gram-negative anaerobic bacilli.

The word "bilophila" can be split into two parts, bilo- and -phila. The first part of the word "bilo" is originated from bile and that's what it means. It is usually written as "bili-".

The suffix "-phila" is originated from Greek philos, meaning "like".

So the word "bilophila" means "like bile".

Does this anaerobic rod like bile? Yes. Scientists found that the growth of Bilophila wadsworthia can be stimulated by 20% of bile salt and 1% of pyruvate.

According to a paper published in 1997, this anaerobic rod is the third most common anaerobe recovered from clinical material obtained from patients with perforated and gangrenous appendicitis. It is also related to inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn‘s disease and ulcerative colitis. So it is better for us if we don't have too much of it in our bowels.

Although there is no way to eliminate it from our intestines, studies for intestinal microbiome suggest that eating less fat and more fiber will keep its number low.

References:

Bennion RS. 1990. The bacteriology of gangrenous and perforated appendicitis--revisited. Ann Surg. 211(2):165-71.

 David L.A. et. al. 2014. Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome. Nature. 505: 559-563