Bacteremia

Overview

Bacteremia is the presence of viable bacteria in the bloodstream. In the WikiBiome framework, bacteremia results from bacterial translocation across compromised barriers — the gut epithelium (→ portal bacteremia) or the oral mucosa (→ systemic bacteremia during dental procedures or periodontitis). It is distinct from endotoxemia (LPS translocation) in that viable organisms, not just their products, enter the blood.

Key Pathways

  • Gut translocation: Barrier failure from dysbiosis, metal damage (cadmium, lead), or inflammation allows gut bacteria to enter the portal circulation → liver → systemic spread [1].
  • COVID-19: SARS-CoV-2-induced gut dysbiosis and barrier disruption leads to bacterial translocation and bacteremia, contributing to cytokine storm severity [4].
  • Oral translocation: Chewing, dental procedures, or severe periodontitis cause transient bacteremia from oral pathogens (porphyromonas gingivalis, Streptococcus) into the systemic circulation → cardiovascular disease risk [2].
  • Perioperative: Post-surgical bacteremia from gut translocation; synbiotics may reduce incidence [3].

Cross-References

References (4)

  1. Liu S, Deng X, Li Z et al. (2023). Liu 2023 — Environmental cadmium exposure alters the internal microbiota and metabolome of Sprague–Dawley rats. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1219729
  2. Andrea Tonelli, Evelyn N. Lumngwena, Ntobeko A. B. Ntusi (2023). The oral microbiome in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease. Nature Reviews Cardiology. doi:10.1038/s41569-022-00825-3
  3. Sara Maher, Hesham A. Elmeligy, Tarek Aboushousha et al. (2024). Synergistic immunomodulatory effect of synbiotics pre- and postoperative resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a randomized controlled study. Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy. doi:10.1007/s00262-024-03686-6
  4. . bernard raichon2022 dysbiosis translocation bacteremia covid

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