Intestinal microbial profiles in extremely preterm infants with and without necrotizing enterocolitis.

Aim: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) represents one of the gravest complications in premature infants. The suggested role of intestinal microbiota in the development of NEC needs to be elucidated.

Methods: This prospective single-centre case-control study applied barcoded pyrosequencing to map the bacterial composition of faecal samples from extremely preterm infants.

Comparison of bacterial microbiota in skin biopsies from normal and psoriatic skin.

Microorganisms have been implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Previous studies of psoriasis and normal skin have used swabs from the surface rather than skin biopsies. In this study, biopsies were taken from 10 patients with psoriasis and 12 control subjects from unmatched sites.

Mutations in the ELANE gene are associated with development of periodontitis in patients with severe congenital neutropenia.

Background: Patients with severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) often develop periodontitis despite standard medical and dental care. In light of previous findings that mutations in the neutrophil elastase gene, ELANE, are associated with more severe neutropenic phenotypes, we hypothesized an association between the genotype of SCN and development of periodontitis.

Methods: Fourteen Swedish patients with SCN or cyclic neutropenia harboring different genetic backgrounds were recruited for periodontal examination.