Gut Microbial Signatures in Pediatric Crohn's Disease Vary According to Disease Activity Measures and Are Influenced by Proxies of Gastrointestinal Transit Time: An ImageKids Study.

Introduction: We investigated relationships between disease activity measures and the gut microbiome in children with Crohn's disease (CD) and how these were confounded by gastrointestinal transit time.

Methods: Microbiome was profiled (16S rRNA sequencing) in feces from 196 children with CD. Sixty participants also provided samples after 18 months.

Dose-dependent effects of enteral nutrition on the faecal microbiota and short chain fatty acids.

Introduction: Enteral nutrition (EN) involves replacing all or part of a person's habitual diet with a nutritional formula. The impact of varying doses of EN on the gut microbiome remains understudied.

Methods: Healthy adults replaced all (100% EN) or part (85% EN, 50% EN and 20% EN) of their energy requirements with EN for 7 days.

Informed development of a multi-species biofilm in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Recent evidence indicates that microbial biofilm aggregates inhabit the lungs of COPD patients and actively contribute towards chronic colonization and repeat infections. However, there are no contextually relevant complex biofilm models for COPD research. In this study, a meta-analysis of the lung microbiome in COPD was used to inform development of an optimized biofilm model composed of genera highly associated with COPD.

Investigating the chemical pathway to the formation of a single biofilm using infrared spectroscopy.

Diagnosing biofilm infections has remained a constant challenge for the last 50 years. Existing diagnostic methods struggle to identify the biofilm phenotype. Moreover, most methods of biofilm analysis destroy the biofilm making the resultant data interpretation difficult.

Investigating the role of Candida albicans as a universal substrate for oral bacteria using a transcriptomic approach: implications for interkingdom biofilm control?

Candida albicans is frequently identified as a colonizer of the oral cavity in health and has recently been termed a "keystone" commensal due to its role on the bacterial communities. However, the role that C. albicans plays in such interactions is not fully understood.

strains exhibit heterogenous tolerance to direct cold atmospheric plasma therapy.

The global clinical and socioeconomic impact of chronic wounds is substantial. The main difficulty that clinicians face during the treatment of chronic wounds is the risk of infection at the wound site. Infected wounds arise from an accumulation of microbial aggregates in the wound bed, leading to the formation of polymicrobial biofilms that can be largely resistant to antibiotic therapy.

Cold Atmospheric Plasma-Activated Composite Hydrogel for an Enhanced and On-Demand Delivery of Antimicrobials.

We present the concept of a versatile drug-loaded composite hydrogel that can be activated using an argon-based cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) jet to deliver both a drug and CAP-generated molecules, concomitantly, in a tissue target. To demonstrate this concept, we utilized the antibiotic gentamicin that is encapsulated in sodium polyacrylate (PAA) particles, which are dispersed within a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel matrix. The final product is a gentamicin-PAA-PVA composite hydrogel suitable for an on-demand triggered release using CAP.

An integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic approach to investigate the heterogeneous biofilm phenotype.

is the most prevalent and notorious of the species involved in bloodstream infections, which is characterised by its capacity to form robust biofilms. Biofilm formation is an important clinical entity shown to be highly variable among clinical isolates. There are various environmental and physiological factors, including nutrient availability which influence the phenotype of species.

Meta-analysis of caries microbiome studies can improve upon disease prediction outcomes.

As one of the most prevalent infective diseases worldwide, it is crucial that we not only know the constituents of the oral microbiome in dental caries but also understand its functionality. Herein, we present a reproducible meta-analysis to effectively report the key components and the associated functional signature of the oral microbiome in dental caries. Publicly available sequencing data were downloaded from online repositories and subjected to a standardized analysis pipeline before analysis.

Investigating Dual-Species and Staphylococcal Biofilm Antiseptic Challenge.

can persistently colonize human skin, alongside a diverse bacterial microbiome. In this study we aimed to investigate the efficacy of antiseptic activities on dual-species interkingdom biofilms containing staphylococci to determine if antiseptic tolerance was negatively impacted by dual-species biofilms. Chlorhexidine, povidone iodine, and hydrogen peroxide (HO), were able to significantly reduce biofilm viable cell counts following exposure at 2%, 10%, and 3%, respectively.

Cell Viability Assays for Candida auris.

Cell viability assays are useful for assessing the efficacy of antifungal therapeutics and disinfection strategies in vitro. In recent years these assays have been fundamental for the testing of conventional and novel therapies against the nosocomial fungal pathogen Candida auris. Here we provide detailed descriptions of methods for assessing cellular viability of Candida auris in vitro, such as metabolic assays (XTT and resazurin), colony-forming unit counting, live/dead quantitative PCR, and fluorescent staining for microscopic analyses.

Investigating the Transcriptome of in a Dual-Species Biofilm Model.

is an opportunistic pathogen found throughout multiple body sites and is frequently co-isolated from infections of the respiratory tract and oral cavity with Herein we present the first report of the effects that elicits on the transcriptome. Dual-species biofilms containing and mutants defective in or were optimised and characterised, followed by transcriptional profiling of by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). Altered phenotypes in mutants revealed specific interaction profiles between fungus and bacteria.

Dyeing fungi: amphotericin B based fluorescent probes for multiplexed imaging.

The clinically used antifungal polyene amphotericin B was conjugated, via the mycosamine and the aglycon moieties, to fluorophores. The Cy5 conjugated probe showed selective labelling of fungi in the presence of bacteria, allowing multiplexed imaging and identification of microbial species in a co-culture of fungi and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Non-typeable chronic colonization in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

is the most common cause of bacterial infection in the lungs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and contributes to episodes of acute exacerbation which are associated with increased hospitalization and mortality. Due to the ability of to adhere to host epithelial cells, initial colonization of the lower airways can progress to a persistent infection and biofilm formation. This is characterized by changes in bacterial behaviour such as reduced cellular metabolism and the production of an obstructive extracellular matrix (ECM).

Candida auris Phenotypic Heterogeneity Determines Pathogenicity .

is an enigmatic yeast that provides substantial global risk in health care facilities and intensive care units. A unique phenotype exhibited by certain isolates of is their ability to form small clusters of cells known as aggregates, which have been to a limited extent described in the context of pathogenic traits. In this study, we screened several nonaggregative and aggregative isolates for biofilm formation, where we observed a level of heterogeneity among the different phenotypes.

Chitosan Ameliorates Candida auris Virulence in a Galleria mellonella Infection Model.

has emerged as a multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogen over the last decade. Outbreaks of the organism in health care facilities have resulted in life-threatening invasive candidiasis in over 40 countries worldwide. Resistance by to conventional antifungal drugs such as fluconazole and amphotericin B means that alternative therapeutics must be explored.

Mycofilms Support Colonization and Enhances Miconazole Resistance in Dual-Species Interactions.

Polymicrobial inter-kingdom biofilm infections represent a clinical management conundrum. The presence of co-isolation of bacteria and fungi complicates the ability to routinely administer single antimicrobial regimens, and synergy between the microorganisms influences infection severity. We therefore investigated the nosocomial pathogens and with respect to antimicrobial intervention.