A possible answer to staving off stress has been hiding in plain sight all along, according to a study published at the end of May. The supposed “stress vaccine” was discovered in the dirt. The bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, has shown to have components that reduce stress-like symptoms. “We think there is a special sauce driving the protective effects in this bacterium, and this fat is one of the main ingredients in that special sauce,” said senior author and integrative physiology professor Christopher Lowry to CU Boulder Today.According to Lowry, when the bacterium was injected into rodents, the animals started to have “long-lasting anti-inflammatory effects on the brain.” Boulder Today reports there have been studies that show exaggerated inflammation boosts the risk of trauma and stressor-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2016, Lowry published a study that showed results from injecting the Mycobacterium vaccae into subjects before a particularly stressful event. The study revealed that the subjects were less likely to have PTSD-like symptoms if given the bacterium beforehand. Lowry told CU Boulder Today that, at the time, they weren’t quite positive why it helped, but now they know. The new study revealed that by isolating a fatty acid, 10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid, found in the Mycobacterium vaccaea they could test how it reacted with certain immune cells. Through these tests, Lowry said the fatty acid would act like the key in a lock to stopping inflammation from happening, therefore halting the stress factors. And when used beforehand, the cells seemed to be more resistant to inflammation, or stress, when tested, according to the study. Lowry says the stress vaccine is something he’s tried to find for years. He’s hopeful that if the fat tests continue to do well, it could lead to a drug development.