Affective symptoms in pregnancy are associated with the vaginal microbiome.

Background: Composition of the vaginal microbiome in pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal, obstetric, and child health outcomes. Therefore, identifying sources of individual differences in the vaginal microbiome is of considerable clinical and public health interest. The current study tested the hypothesis that vaginal microbiome composition during pregnancy is associated with an individual's experience of affective symptoms and stress exposure.

Affective Symptoms in Pregnancy are Associated with the Vaginal Microbiome.

Composition of the vaginal microbiome in pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal, obstetric, and child health outcomes. Identifying the sources of individual differences in the vaginal microbiome is therefore of considerable clinical and public health interest. The current study tested the hypothesis that vaginal microbiome composition during pregnancy is associated with an individual's experience of affective symptoms and stress exposure.

Longitudinal intravital imaging of the bone marrow for analysis of the race for the surface in a murine osteomyelitis model.

Critical knowledge gaps of orthopedic infections pertain to bacterial colonization. The established dogma termed the Race for the Surface posits that contaminating bacteria compete with host cells for the implant post-op, which remains unproven without real-time in vivo evidence. Thus, we modified the murine longitudinal intravital imaging of the bone marrow (LIMB) system to allow real-time quantification of green fluorescent protein (GFP+) host cells and enhanced cyan fluorescent protein (ECFP+) or red fluorescent protein (RFP+) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) proximal to a transfemoral implant.

Modulation of Gut Microbiota Metabolism in Obesity-Related Type 2 Diabetes Reduces Osteomyelitis Severity.

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen causing osteomyelitis through hematogenous seeding or contamination of implants and open wounds following orthopedic surgeries. The severity of S. aureus-mediated osteomyelitis is enhanced in obesity-related type 2 diabetes (obesity/T2D) due to chronic inflammation impairing both adaptive and innate immunity.

Aberrant newborn T cell and microbiota developmental trajectories predict respiratory compromise during infancy.

Neonatal immune-microbiota co-development is poorly understood, yet age-appropriate recognition of - and response to - pathogens and commensal microbiota is critical to health. In this longitudinal study of 148 preterm and 119 full-term infants from birth through one year of age, we found that postmenstrual age or weeks from conception is a central factor influencing T cell and mucosal microbiota development. Numerous features of the T cell and microbiota functional development remain unexplained; however, by either age metric and are instead shaped by discrete perinatal and postnatal events.

Machine Learning Approach Identified Multi-Platform Factors for Caries Prediction in Child-Mother Dyads.

Untreated tooth decays affect nearly one third of the world and is the most prevalent disease burden among children. The disease progression of tooth decay is multifactorial and involves a prolonged decrease in pH, resulting in the demineralization of tooth surfaces. Bacterial species that are capable of fermenting carbohydrates contribute to the demineralization process by the production of organic acids.

Cell Wall Biosynthesis Modulates Bone Invasion and Osteomyelitis Pathogenesis.

invasion of the osteocyte lacuno-canalicular network (OLCN) is a novel mechanism of bacterial persistence and immune evasion in chronic osteomyelitis. Previous work highlighted cell wall transpeptidase, penicillin binding protein 4 (PBP4), and surface adhesin, surface protein C (SasC), as critical factors for bacterial deformation and propagation through nanopores , representative of the confined canaliculi . Given these findings, we hypothesized that cell wall synthesis machinery and surface adhesins enable durotaxis- and haptotaxis-guided invasion of the OLCN, respectively.

Microbiomics of irrigation with xylitol or in chronic rhinosinusitis.

Objective: Topical sinonasal rinse therapies may alter the local microbiome and improve disease control in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The objective of this study was to examine microbiome changes in post-surgical CRS patients when rinsing with commercially available products containing xylitol or .

Methods: A crossover-type protocol with a washout period was designed.

Staphylococcus aureus Tolerance and Genomic Response to Photodynamic Inactivation.

is an opportunistic pathogen with a clinical spectrum ranging from asymptomatic skin colonization to invasive infections. While traditional antibiotic therapies can be effective against , the increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains results in treatment failures and high mortality rates. Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) is an innovative and promising alternative to antibiotics.

Identification of Penicillin Binding Protein 4 (PBP4) as a critical factor for Staphylococcus aureus bone invasion during osteomyelitis in mice.

Staphylococcus aureus infection of bone is challenging to treat because it colonizes the osteocyte lacuno-canalicular network (OLCN) of cortical bone. To elucidate factors involved in OLCN invasion and identify novel drug targets, we completed a hypothesis-driven screen of 24 S. aureus transposon insertion mutant strains for their ability to propagate through 0.

Temporal Dysbiosis of Infant Nasal Microbiota Relative to Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of infant respiratory disease. Infant airway microbiota has been associated with respiratory disease risk and severity. The extent to which interactions between RSV and microbiota occur in the airway, and their impact on respiratory disease susceptibility and severity, are unknown.

Evolving concepts in bone infection: redefining "biofilm", "acute vs. chronic osteomyelitis", "the immune proteome" and "local antibiotic therapy".

Osteomyelitis is a devastating disease caused by microbial infection of bone. While the frequency of infection following elective orthopedic surgery is low, rates of reinfection are disturbingly high. is responsible for the majority of chronic osteomyelitis cases and is often considered to be incurable due to bacterial persistence deep within bone.

An in vitro platform for elucidating the molecular genetics of S. aureus invasion of the osteocyte lacuno-canalicular network during chronic osteomyelitis.

Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis is a devasting disease that often leads to amputation. Recent findings have shown that S. aureus is capable of invading the osteocyte lacuno-canalicular network (OLCN) of cortical bone during chronic osteomyelitis.

The Response of and Contributes to Virulence and Metabolism.

causes a wide spectrum of disease, with the site and severity of infection dependent on virulence traits encoded within genetically distinct clonal complexes (CCs) and bacterial responses to host innate immunity. The production of nitric oxide (NO) by activated phagocytes is a major host response to which metabolically adapts through multiple strategies that are conserved in all CCs, including an nitric oxide synthase (Nos). Previous genome analysis of CC30, a lineage associated with chronic endocardial and osteoarticular infections, revealed a putative NO reductase (Nor) not found in other CCs that potentially contributes to NO resistance and clinical outcome.

Neonatal gut and respiratory microbiota: coordinated development through time and space.

Background: Postnatal development of early life microbiota influences immunity, metabolism, neurodevelopment, and infant health. Microbiome development occurs at multiple body sites, with distinct community compositions and functions. Associations between microbiota at multiple sites represent an unexplored influence on the infant microbiome.

Impact of prematurity and nutrition on the developing gut microbiome and preterm infant growth.

Background: Identification of factors that influence the neonatal gut microbiome is urgently needed to guide clinical practices that support growth of healthy preterm infants. Here, we examined the influence of nutrition and common practices on the gut microbiota and growth in a cohort of preterm infants.

Results: With weekly gut microbiota samples spanning postmenstrual age (PMA) 24 to 46 weeks, we developed two models to test associations between the microbiota, nutrition and growth: a categorical model with three successive microbiota phases (P1, P2, and P3) and a model with two periods (early and late PMA) defined by microbiota composition and PMA, respectively.

The impact of postnatal antibiotics on the preterm intestinal microbiome.

Background: Development of the intestinal microbiome in preterm infants has significant impact on infant health. Our objective was to determine if duration of antibiotics within the first 10 and 30 d after birth affects the intestinal microbiome.

Methods: Subjects were 24 0/7-31 6/7 wk of gestational age who received ≥ 50% breast milk and a total of ≥ 100 ml/kg of feeds by 10 d.

Nonclassical MHC class I-dependent invariant T cells are evolutionarily conserved and prominent from early development in amphibians.

Human and murine MHC nonclassical class Ib-restricted invariant T (iT) cell subsets, such as invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT) and mucosal-associated invariant T cells, have specialized functions early in immune responses, especially in modulating subsequent adaptive immune responses. Here, we characterize a prominent iT population in the amphibian Xenopus laevis and show the requirement of the class Ib molecule, Xenopus nonclassical gene 10, in its differentiation and function. Using Xenopus nonclassical gene 10 tetramers and RNAi loss of function by transgenesis, we identified a large class Ib-dependent CD8(-)/CD4(-) iT subset in unmanipulated frogs and tadpoles.

Evolution in fast forward: a potential role for mutators in accelerating Staphylococcus aureus pathoadaptation.

Pathogen evolution and subsequent phenotypic heterogeneity during chronic infection are proposed to enhance Staphylococcus aureus survival during human infection. We tested this theory by genetically and phenotypically characterizing strains with mutations constructed in the mismatch repair (MMR) and oxidized guanine (GO) system, termed mutators, which exhibit increased spontaneous-mutation frequencies. Analysis of these mutators revealed not only strain-dependent increases in the spontaneous-mutation frequency but also shifts in mutational type and hot spots consistent with loss of GO or MMR functions.

Enterococcus faecalis enhances cell proliferation through hydrogen peroxide-mediated epidermal growth factor receptor activation.

Enterococcus faecalis is a member of the intestinal and oral microbiota that may affect the etiology of colorectal and oral cancers. The mechanisms by which E. faecalis may contribute to the initiation and progression of these cancers remain uncertain.

Later onset phenotypes of Krabbe disease: results of the world-wide registry.

The majority of newborns screening positive for Krabbe disease have not exhibited the expected early infantile phenotype, with most clinically normal despite low galactocerebrosidase activity and two mutations. Most are expected to develop the later onset phenotypes. The World-Wide Krabbe Registry was developed in part to expand our understanding of the natural history of these rare variants.

An Enterotoxin-Bearing Pathogenicity Island in Staphylococcus epidermidis.

Cocolonization of human mucosal surfaces causes frequent encounters between various staphylococcal species, creating opportunities for the horizontal acquisition of mobile genetic elements. The majority of Staphylococcus aureus toxins and virulence factors are encoded on S. aureus pathogenicity islands (SaPIs).

Development of pooled suppression subtractive hybridization to analyze the pangenome of Staphylococcus aureus.

We describe the development and application of a Pooled Suppression Subtractive Hybridization (PSSH) method to describe differences between the genomic content of a pool of clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates and a sequenced reference strain. In comparative bacterial genomics, Suppression Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) is normally utilized to compare genomic features or expression profiles of one strain versus another, which limits its ability to analyze communities of isolates. However, a PSSH approach theoretically enables the user to characterize the entirety of gene content unique to a related group of isolates in a single reaction.