Posted by When people think of salmonella, they usually think of food poisoning from either raw eggs or maybe something like undercooked chicken. But rather than just having a rough couple of days, salmonella can disrupt the body’s digestive system in a pretty serious way. For my STEAM project I wanted to take a deeper look on how salmonella travels through our body and messes with the function of our digestive organs and the process of our digestion itself.
Salmonella is a group of bacteria that can infect our gastrointestinal tract. Its mainly spread through contaminated food and water. Once you eat the food that has it, it travels through the same route as the food. It goes in through our mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and then the large intestine. Usually stomach acid helps protect us by killing off most harmful microbes. But some salmonella strains can survive this because of their acid resistance, which allows them to move further into the intestines (Mayo Clinic, 2022).
The real damage begins in the small intestine. Thats where salmonella invades the cells that line the intestinal wall. The bacteria use specialized proteins to trick intestinal cells into letting them in. Once they are inside salmonella replicates and spreads, and this triggers an immune response that then causes inflammation. This inflammation is what leads to the basic symptoms of infection. Like diarrhea, fever, and cramps. (Zha et al., 2019)
One of the major ways salmonella affects our digestion is by disrupting how the small intestine absorbs water and nutrients. When the lining is inflamed it can’t perform its normal functions, this leads to us having dehydration and nutrient loss. Salmonella infections can mess with the balance of bacteria in our gut (in our microbiome) which plays a huge role in digestion and our immune defense. This can leave us more vulnerable to future infections, even after the initial illness passes. (Barbara et al., 2000)
In more severe cases, especially in people with weaker immune systems, the bacteria can spread beyond our digestive system and enter our bloodstream. This is much more dangerous and can lead to infections in other parts of the body (Zha et al., 2019). Most healthy people recover in a few days without medication, complications like sepsis or long term gastrointestinal issues can happen. (Zha et al., 2019)
This entire process connects to what we’ve been studying in class about the digestive system. We’ve talked about the order in which organs process food and how each part has a specific role. Salmonella throws a wrench in that whole system. It shows how even a microscopic invader can disrupt not just one part of digestion, but the whole chain of events from absorption to nutrient processing.
Salmonella is more than just a common foodborne illness, it’s a real world example of how bacteria can interfere with our complex biological systems. Understanding how it affects the digestive system gives us more appreciation for how all the organs work together and how important it is to protect that system through using safe food practices.
This is the link to the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pz7T9G8t4DfbpheSbjj5eJFpOo7tmE0h/view?usp=sharing Enjoy!
References:
Barbara, Stanghellini, Berti‐Ceroni, De Giorgio, Salvioli, Corradi, Cremon, & Corinaldesi. (2000). Role of antibiotic therapy on long-term germ excretion in faeces and digestive symptoms after Salmonella infection. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 14(9), 1127–1131. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2036.2000.00818.x
Zha, L., Garrett, S., & Sun, J. (2019). Salmonella Infection in Chronic Inflammation and Gastrointestinal Cancer. Diseases, 7(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases7010028
Mayo Clinic. (2022, April 29). Salmonella Infection – Symptoms and Causes. Mayo Clinic; Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/salmonella/symptoms-causes/syc-20355329