Randomized Placebo-Controlled, Biomarker-Stratified Phase Ib Microbiome Modulation in Melanoma: Impact of Antibiotic Preconditioning on Microbiome and Immunity.

Gut-microbiota modulation shows promise in improving immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB) response; however, precision biomarker-driven, placebo-controlled trials are lacking. We performed a multicenter, randomized placebo-controlled, biomarker-stratified phase I trial in patients with ICB-naïve metastatic melanoma using SER-401, an orally delivered Firmicutesenriched spore formulation. Fecal microbiota signatures were characterized at baseline; patients were stratified by high versus low Ruminococcaceae abundance prior to randomization to the SER-401 arm (oral vancomycin-preconditioning/SER-401 alone/nivolumab + SER-401), versus the placebo arm [placebo antibiotic/placebo microbiome modulation (PMM)/nivolumab + PMM (NCT03817125)].

Third-party fecal microbiota transplantation for high-risk treatment-naïve acute GVHD of the lower GI tract.

Disruption of the intestinal microbiome is observed with acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) of the lower gastrointestinal (LGI) tract, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has successfully cured steroid-refractory cases. In this open-label, single-arm, pilot study, third-party, single-donor FMT was administered in combination with systemic corticosteroids to participants with high-risk acute LGI GVHD, with a focus on treatment-naïve cases. Participants were scheduled to receive 1 induction dose (15 capsules per day for 2 consecutive days), followed by 3 weekly maintenance doses, consisting of 15 capsules per dose.

Gut Microbiome in Patients With Early-Stage and Late-Stage Melanoma.

Importance: The gut microbiome modulates the immune system and responses to immunotherapy in patients with late-stage melanoma. It is unknown whether fecal microbiota profiles differ between healthy individuals and patients with melanoma or if microbiota profiles differ among patients with different stages of melanoma. Defining gut microbiota profiles in individuals without melanoma and those with early-stage and late-stage melanoma may reveal features associated with disease progression.

Young-onset Rectal Cancer: Unique Tumoral Microbiome and Correlation With Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy.

Objective: External exposures, the host, and the microbiome interact in oncology. We aimed to investigate tumoral microbiomes in young-onset rectal cancers (YORCs) for profiles potentially correlative with disease etiology and biology.

Background: YORC is rapidly increasing, with 1 in 4 new rectal cancer cases occurring under the age of 50 years.

Association of Midgut Bacteria and Their Metabolic Pathways with Zika Infection and Insecticide Resistance in Colombian Populations.

Introduction: is the vector of several arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. In 2015-16, Zika virus (ZIKV) had an outbreak in South America associated with prenatal microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. This mosquito's viral transmission is influenced by microbiota abundance and diversity and its interactions with the vector.

Diet-driven microbial ecology underpins associations between cancer immunotherapy outcomes and the gut microbiome.

The gut microbiota shapes the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer, however dietary and geographic influences have not been well-studied in prospective trials. To address this, we prospectively profiled baseline gut (fecal) microbiota signatures and dietary patterns of 103 trial patients from Australia and the Netherlands treated with neoadjuvant ICIs for high risk resectable metastatic melanoma and performed an integrated analysis with data from 115 patients with melanoma treated with ICIs in the United States. We observed geographically distinct microbial signatures of response and immune-related adverse events (irAEs).

Creation of a Global Vaccine Risk Index.

The World Health Organization has identified vaccine hesitancy as one of its top ten global health threats for 2019. Efforts are underway to define the factors responsible for reductions in vaccine confidence. However, as global measles cases accelerated beginning in 2018, it became evident that additional factors were promoting measles re-emergence, including war, political and socio-economic collapse, shifting poverty, and vulnerability to weather events and climate change.

STAT6 Blockade Abrogates -Induced Eosinophilic Chronic Rhinosinusitis and Asthma, A Model of Unified Airway Disease.

Unified airway disease, including concurrent asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), is a common, but poorly understood disorder with no curative treatment options. To establish a murine model of chronic unified eosinophilic airway inflammation, mice were challenged with , and sinonasal mucosa and lung tissue were evaluated by immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and gene expression. Inhalation of conidia resulted in a Th2-biased lung and sinus inflammation that typifies allergic asthma and CRS.

Vaccine-linked chemotherapy induces IL-17 production and reduces cardiac pathology during acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection.

Chagas disease resulting from Trypanosoma cruzi infection leads to a silent, long-lasting chronic neglected tropical disease affecting the poorest and underserved populations around the world. Antiparasitic treatment with benznidazole does not prevent disease progression or death in patients with established cardiac disease. Our consortium is developing a therapeutic vaccine based on the T.

Shotgun metagenomics of indigenous bacteria collected from the banks of the San Jacinto River for biodegradation of aromatic waste.

Several Eastern Harris County communities lie near the now enclosed San Jacinto River (SJR) Waste Pit Superfund, a dumping ground for chlorinated dioxins and other paper mill waste products. Currently, no active monitoring of the SJR is conducted for these toxins with the exact concentration and health impact to the area unknown. As such, remediation and monitoring efforts outside of the Superfund itself could be necessary.

Impact of intestinal parasites on microbiota and cobalamin gene sequences: a pilot study.

Background: Approximately 30% of children worldwide are infected with gastrointestinal parasites. Depending on the species, parasites can disrupt intestinal bacterial microbiota affecting essential vitamin biosynthesis.

Methods: Stool samples were collected from 37 asymptomatic children from a previous cross-sectional Argentinian study.

Genome data of DF07 collected from polluted river sediment reveals an opportunistic pathogen and a potential antibiotic reservoir.

DF07 is a gram negative bacterium isolated from polluted San Jacinto River sediment near Moncrief Park in Channelview, Texas. The genome of strain DF07 (chromosome and plasmid) was compiled at the scaffold level and can be accessed through the National Center for Biotechnology Information database under accession NZ_NJGC00000000. The DF07 genome consists of a total of 4,801,842 bp encoding for approximately 4,351 functional proteins.

Trichuris muris whey acidic protein induces type 2 protective immunity against whipworm.

Human whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) infects approximately 1 in 15 people worldwide, representing the leading infectious cause of colitis and subsequent, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Current control measures focused on mass deworming have had limited success due to low drug efficacies. Vaccination would be an ideal, cost-effective strategy to induce protective immunity, leading to control of infection and transmission.

Correction: The state of the antivaccine movement in the United States: A focused examination of nonmedical exemptions in states and counties.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.

The state of the antivaccine movement in the United States: A focused examination of nonmedical exemptions in states and counties.

In a Policy Forum, Peter Hotez and colleagues discuss vaccination exemptions in US states and possible consequences for infectious disease outbreaks.

Whole genome analysis of six organophosphate-degrading rhizobacteria reveals putative agrochemical degradation enzymes with broad substrate specificity.

Six organophosphate-degrading bacterial strains collected from farm and ranch soil rhizospheres across the Houston-metropolitan area were identified as strains of Pseudomonas putida (CBF10-2), Pseudomonas stutzeri (ODKF13), Ochrobactrum anthropi (FRAF13), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (CBF10-1), Achromobacter xylosoxidans (ADAF13), and Rhizobium radiobacter (GHKF11). Whole genome sequencing data was assessed for relevant genes, proteins, and pathways involved in the breakdown of agrochemicals. For comparative purposes, this analysis was expanded to also include data from deposited strains in the National Center for Biotechnology Information's (NCBI) database.

Vaccine-Linked Chemotherapy Improves Benznidazole Efficacy for Acute Chagas Disease.

Chagas disease affects 6 to 7 million people worldwide, resulting in significant disease burdens and health care costs in countries of endemicity. Chemotherapeutic treatment is restricted to two parasiticidal drugs, benznidazole and nifurtimox. Both drugs are highly effective during acute disease but are only minimally effective during chronic disease and fraught with significant adverse clinical effects.

Genome of DF05 from dioxin contaminated sediment downstream of the San Jacinto River waste pits reveals a broad array of aromatic degradation gene determinants.

. DF05 is a Gram negative, motile, aerobic, rod-shaped and psychrotrophic bacterium that was isolated from contaminated San Jacinto River sediment near River Terrace Park in Channelview, Texas. The draft genome of strain DF05 consists of a total of 192 contigs assembled at the scaffold level totaling 6,487,527 bp and encoding for 5862 functional proteins, 1116 of which are annotated as hypothetical proteins.

Whole genome sequencing of sp. AISO3 from polluted San Jacinto River sediment reveals high bacterial mobility, metabolic versatility and heavy metal resistance.

The genus is composed of high GC content, Gram-positive bacteria of the phylum known for their antibiotic production. species commonly colonize agricultural rhizospheres and more infrequently have been found to colonize and infect human tissues as well. Here we report the 3,696,310 bp draft genome (chromosome and plasmids) sequence assembled at the scaffold level from 232 contigs of sp.