Prevalence of HDV infections in Poland based on the experience of a single center in Silesia and literature research.

Aim Of The Study: Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) causes the most aggressive and rapidly progressive form of viral hepatitis. However, detailed data about epidemiology and risk factors in Polish population are still lacking. Thus, the aim of this retrospective study was to determine the prevalence of HDV infection among a Silesian population of patients infected with HBV.

Faecal biomarkers in type 1 diabetes with and without diabetic nephropathy.

Gastrointestinal dysbiosis is common among persons with type 1 diabetes (T1D), but its potential impact on diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains obscure. We examined whether faecal biomarkers, previously associated with low-grade gastrointestinal inflammation, differ between healthy controls and T1D subjects with and without DN. Faecal samples were analyzed for levels of calprotectin, intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP), short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and immunoglobulins in subjects with T1D (n = 159) and healthy controls (NDC; n = 50).

Impact of dietary sulfolipid-derived sulfoquinovose on gut microbiota composition and inflammatory status of colitis-prone interleukin-10-deficient mice.

The interplay between diet, intestinal microbiota and host is a major factor impacting health. A diet rich in unsaturated fatty acids has been reported to stimulate the growth of Bilophila wadsworthia by increasing the proportion of the sulfonated bile acid taurocholate (TC). The taurine-induced overgrowth of B.

Gastrointestinal manifestations after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery in individuals with and without type 2 diabetes.

Background: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery is an effective treatment for obesity, which improves cardiovascular health and reduces the risk of premature mortality. However, some reports have suggested that RYGB may predispose patients to adverse health outcomes, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer.

Objectives: The present prospective study aimed to evaluate the impact of RYGB surgery on cardiovascular risk factors and gastrointestinal inflammation in individuals with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Multiplexed Quantitative Assessment of the Fate of Taurine and Sulfoquinovose in the Intestinal Microbiome.

(1) Introduction: Sulfonates, which can be diet- or host-derived, are a class of compounds detected in the gut, are involved in host-microbiome interactions and have several health effects. Our aim was to develop a method to quantify five of the sulfonates in the intestine and apply it in a simplified human microbiome model. These were taurine, its metabolic precursor cysteate and one of its degradation products isethionate, as well as sulfoquinovose and one of its most relevant degradation products 2,3-dihydroxy-1-propanesulfonate.

Antibiotic use during pregnancy increases offspring asthma severity in a dose-dependent manner.

Background: The use of antibiotics during pregnancy is associated with increased allergic asthma risk in the offspring, and given that approximately 25% of pregnant women are prescribed antibiotics, it is important to understand the mechanisms contributing to this phenomenon. Currently, there are no studies that directly test this association experimentally. Our objective was to develop a mouse model in which antibiotic treatment during pregnancy results in increased offspring asthma susceptibility.

Distinct alterations of gut morphology and microbiota characterize accelerated diabetes onset in nonobese diabetic mice.

The rising prevalence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) over the past decades has been linked to lifestyle changes, but the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Recent findings point to gut-associated mechanisms in the control of T1D pathogenesis. In nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, a model of T1D, diabetes development accelerates after deletion of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4).

Is a vegan or a vegetarian diet associated with the microbiota composition in the gut? Results of a new cross-sectional study and systematic review.

It is assumed that diet influences the composition of gut microbiota, which in turn may affect human health status. This systematic review aimed to summarize associations of a vegan or vegetarian diet with the composition of microbiota. A literature search was conducted in PubMed and Embase for eligible human studies with vegan or vegetarian diets as an exposure and microbiota composition as an outcome in healthy adults.

An NADH-Dependent Reductase from Eubacterium ramulus Catalyzes the Stereospecific Heteroring Cleavage of Flavanones and Flavanonols.

The human intestinal anaerobe is known for its ability to degrade various dietary flavonoids. In the present study, we demonstrate the cleavage of the heterocyclic C-ring of flavanones and flavanonols by an oxygen-sensitive NADH-dependent reductase, previously described as enoate reductase, from This flavanone- and flavanonol-cleaving reductase (Fcr) was purified following its heterologous expression in and further characterized. Fcr cleaved the flavanones naringenin, eriodictyol, liquiritigenin, and homoeriodictyol.

Microbial Colonization in Adulthood Shapes the Intestinal Macrophage Compartment.

Background And Aims: Contact with distinct microbiota early in life has been shown to educate the mucosal immune system, hence providing protection against immune-mediated diseases. However, the impact of early versus late colonization with regard to the development of the intestinal macrophage compartment has not been studied so far.

Methods: Germ-free mice were colonized with specific-pathogen-free [SPF] microbiota at the age of 5 weeks.

Clostridium ramosum regulates enterochromaffin cell development and serotonin release.

Peripheral serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine: 5-HT) synthesized in the intestine by enterochromaffin cells (ECs), plays an important role in the regulation of peristaltic of the gut, epithelial secretion and promotes the development and maintenance of the enteric neurons. Recent studies showed that the indigenous gut microbiota modulates 5-HT signalling and that ECs use sensory receptors to detect dietary and microbiota-derived signals from the lumen to subsequently transduce the information to the nervous system. We hypothesized that Clostridium ramosum by increasing gut 5-HT availability consequently contributes to high-fat diet-induced obesity.

Akkermansia muciniphila strain ATCC BAA-835 does not promote short-term intestinal inflammation in gnotobiotic interleukin-10-deficient mice.

Akkermansia muciniphila is a common member of the intestinal microbiota of healthy human individuals. Its abundance is negatively associated with inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic disorders and the oral administration of A. muciniphila improves the symptoms of metabolic disease in mice.

Catenibacillus scindens gen. nov., sp. nov., a C-deglycosylating human intestinal representative of the Lachnospiraceae.

An anaerobic Gram-stain-positive, non-spore-forming and non-motile bacterium isolated from the human gut, designated CG19-1, capable of cleaving aromatic C-glucosides was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Major fermentation products of this asaccharolytic organism were acetate and butyrate when grown on a complex medium. Growth of strain CG19-1 was stimulated by glucose or pyruvate.

Small Intestinal Permeability and Gut-Transit Time Determined with Low and High Molecular Weight Fluorescein Isothiocyanate-Dextrans in C3H Mice.

Protocols for intestinal permeability measurements in mice using 4-kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated (FITC) dextran differ considerably among laboratories on the blood-sampling time. To find the optimal point in time for blood sampling, we administered 4-kDa FITC dextran to C3H mice and monitored the marker in plasma over 8 h. We also determined gut-transit time using 70-kDa FITC dextran, which does not cross the intestinal epithelium.

A BODIPY-Tagged Phosphono Peptide as Activity-Based Probe for Human Leukocyte Elastase.

Human leukocyte elastase plays a crucial role in a variety of inflammatory disorders and represents an important subject of biomedical studies. The chemotype of peptidic phosphonates was employed for the design of a new activity-based probe for human leukocyte elastase. Its structure combines the phosphonate warhead with an adequate peptide portion and a BODIPY fluorophore with a clickable ethinylphenyl moiety at position.

Do we choose control diets wisely?

In a recent article in Cell Reports, Dalby and colleagues convincingly demonstrate that choosing an inadequate control diet in animal experiments that investigate the interaction of nutrition, gut microbiota, and obesity development may lead to the wrong conclusions. The authors systematically compared the effects of refined high- and low-fat diets (rHFD and rLFD) with those of a standard chow diet on mouse physiology, microbiota composition, cecal fermentation, and intestinal morphology. The results obtained in this study question the conclusions drawn from animal studies that compared the effects of HFDs with those of chow diets.

Design of an Activity-Based Probe for Human Neutrophil Elastase: Implementation of the Lossen Rearrangement To Induce Förster Resonance Energy Transfers.

Human neutrophil elastase is an important regulator of the immune response and plays a role in host defense mechanisms and further physiological processes. The uncontrolled activity of this serine protease may cause severe tissue alterations and impair inflammatory states. The design of an activity-based probe for human neutrophil elastase reported herein relies on a sulfonyloxyphthalimide moiety as a new type of warhead that is linker-connected to a coumarin fluorophore.

Evaluation of inter-individual differences in gut bacterial isoflavone bioactivation in humans by PCR-based targeting of genes involved in equol formation.

Aim: To identify human subjects harbouring intestinal bacteria that bioactivate daidzein to equol using a targeted PCR-based approach.

Methods And Results: In a pilot study including 17 human subjects, equol formation was determined in faecal slurries. In parallel, faecal DNA was amplified by PCR using degenerate primers that target highly conserved regions of dihydrodaidzein reductase and tetrahydrodaidzein reductase genes.

Towards standards for human fecal sample processing in metagenomic studies.

Technical variation in metagenomic analysis must be minimized to confidently assess the contributions of microbiota to human health. Here we tested 21 representative DNA extraction protocols on the same fecal samples and quantified differences in observed microbial community composition. We compared them with differences due to library preparation and sample storage, which we contrasted with observed biological variation within the same specimen or within an individual over time.

Short-chain fatty acids and inulin, but not guar gum, prevent diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance through differential mechanisms in mice.

The role of dietary fibre and short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in obesity development is controversially discussed. Here, we investigated how various types of dietary fibre and different SCFA ratios affect metabolic syndrome-related disorders. Male mice (B6) were fed high-fat diets supplemented with dietary fibres (either cellulose, inulin or guar gum) or different Ac:Pr ratios (high acetate (HAc) or propionate (HPr)) for 30 weeks.

Intestinal alkaline phosphatase at the crossroad of intestinal health and disease - a putative role in type 1 diabetes.

Background: Patients with type 1 diabetes have shown an increase in circulating cytokines, altered lipoprotein metabolism and signs of vascular dysfunction in response to high-fat meals. Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) regulates lipid transport and inflammatory responses in the gastrointestinal tract. We therefore hypothesized that changes in IAP activity could have profound effects on gut metabolic homeostasis in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Gut microbiota and glucometabolic alterations in response to recurrent partial sleep deprivation in normal-weight young individuals.

Objective: Changes to the microbial community in the human gut have been proposed to promote metabolic disturbances that also occur after short periods of sleep loss (including insulin resistance). However, whether sleep loss affects the gut microbiota remains unknown.

Methods: In a randomized within-subject crossover study utilizing a standardized in-lab protocol (with fixed meal times and exercise schedules), we studied nine normal-weight men at two occasions: after two nights of partial sleep deprivation (PSD; sleep opportunity 02:45-07:00 h), and after two nights of normal sleep (NS; sleep opportunity 22:30-07:00 h).

Chalcone Isomerase from Eubacterium ramulus Catalyzes the Ring Contraction of Flavanonols.

The enzyme catalyzing the ring-contracting conversion of the flavanonol taxifolin to the auronol alphitonin in the course of flavonoid degradation by the human intestinal anaerobe Eubacterium ramulus was purified and characterized. It stereospecifically catalyzed the isomerization of (+)-taxifolin but not that of (-)-taxifolin. The K for (+)-taxifolin was 6.

Importance of propionate for the repression of hepatic lipogenesis and improvement of insulin sensitivity in high-fat diet-induced obesity.

Scope: The SCFA acetate (Ac) and propionate (Pr) are major fermentation products of dietary fibers and provide additional energy to the host. We investigated short- and long-term effects of dietary Ac and Pr supplementation on diet-induced obesity and hepatic lipid metabolism.

Methods And Results: C3H/HeOuJ mice received high-fat (HF) diets supplemented with 5% SCFA in different Ac:Pr ratios, a high acetate (HF-HAc; 2.

Phosphono Bisbenzguanidines as Irreversible Dipeptidomimetic Inhibitors and Activity-Based Probes of Matriptase-2.

Matriptase-2, a type II transmembrane serine protease, plays a key role in human iron homeostasis. Inhibition of matriptase-2 is considered as an attractive strategy for the treatment of iron-overload diseases, such as hemochromatosis and β-thalassemia. In the present study, synthetic routes to nine dipeptidomimetic inactivators were developed.