Bariatric surgery is the most effective long-term therapy for the management of patients with obesity but all bariatric surgical procedures have the potential to cause clinically significant micronutrient deficiencies due to reduced food intake, decreased gastric acid and intrinsic factor secretion, poor food choices and food intolerance. For clinicians, the acquisition of special knowledge is required in order to deliver appropriate and effective care to the post-bariatric patient. In the present article, we summarize existing recommendations for monitoring and replacement of vitamins and minerals following bariatric surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe acquisition and development of the infant microbiome are key to establishing a healthy host-microbiome symbiosis. The maternal microbial reservoir is thought to play a crucial role in this process. However, the source and transmission routes of the infant pioneering microbes are poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The involvement of the gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of calcium nephrolithiasis has been hypothesised since the discovery of the oxalate-degrading activity of , but never comprehensively studied with metagenomics. The aim of this case-control study was to compare the faecal microbiota composition and functionality between recurrent idiopathic calcium stone formers (SFs) and controls.
Design: Faecal samples were collected from 52 SFs and 48 controls (mean age 48±11).
Background: Bifidobacterium breve represents a common member of the infant gut microbiota and its presence in the gut has been associated with host well being. For this reason it is relevant to investigate and understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the establishment, persistence and activities of this gut commensal in the host environment.
Results: The assessment of vegetative promoters in the bifidobacterial prototype Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 was performed employing a combination of RNA tiling array analysis and cDNA sequencing.
Throughout the human life, the gut microbiota interacts with us in a number of different ways, thereby influencing our health status. The acquisition of such an interactive gut microbiota commences at birth. Medical and environmental factors including diet, antibiotic exposure and mode of delivery are major factors that shape the composition of the microbial communities in the infant gut.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDifferent factors may modulate the gut microbiota of animals. In any particular environment, diet, genetic factors and human influences can shape the bacterial communities residing in the gastrointestinal tract. Metagenomic approaches have significantly expanded our knowledge on microbiota dynamics inside hosts, yet cultivation and isolation of bacterial members of these complex ecosystems may still be necessary to fully understand interactions between bacterial communities and their host.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReduced biodiversity and increased representation of opportunistic pathogens are typical features of gut microbiota composition in aging. Few studies have investigated their correlation with polypharmacy, multimorbidity and frailty. To assess it, we analyzed the fecal microbiota from 76 inpatients, aged 83 ± 8.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInternally transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA profiling is a novel tool for detailed analysis of microbial populations at low taxonomic ranks. Here we exploited this approach to explore species-level biogeography of the Bifidobacterium genus across 291 adult mammals. These include humans and 13 other primates, domesticated animals, such as dogs, cats, cows, sheep, goats, horses and pigs, and 46 additional species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Members of the Bifidobacteriaceae family represent both dominant microbial groups that colonize the gut of various animals, especially during the suckling stage of their life, while they also occur as pathogenic bacteria of the urogenital tract. The pan-genome of the genus Bifidobacterium has been explored in detail in recent years, though genomics of the Bifidobacteriaceae family has not yet received much attention. Here, a comparative genomic analyses of 67 Bifidobacteriaceae (sub) species including all currently recognized genera of this family, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The correct establishment of the human gut microbiota represents a crucial development that commences at birth. Different hypotheses propose that the infant gut microbiota is derived from, among other sources, the mother's fecal/vaginal microbiota and human milk.
Results: The composition of bifidobacterial communities of 25 mother-infant pairs was investigated based on an internal transcribed spacer (ITS) approach, combined with cultivation-mediated and genomic analyses.
It is widely accepted that metabolic disorders, such as obesity, are closely linked to lifestyle and diet. Recently, the central role played by the intestinal microbiota in human metabolism and in progression of metabolic disorders has become evident. In this context, animal studies and human trials have demonstrated that alterations of the intestinal microbiota towards enhanced energy harvest is a characteristic of the obese phenotype.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContamination of food by chemicals or pathogenic bacteria may cause particular illnesses that are linked to food consumption, commonly referred to as foodborne diseases. Bacteria are present in/on various foods products, such as fruits, vegetables and ready-to-eat products. Bacteria that cause foodborne diseases are known as foodborne pathogens (FBPs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetagenomic studies of the human gut microbiome have only recently begun to explore the differences in taxonomic composition between subjects from diverse geographical origins. Here, we compared taxonomy, resistome and functional metabolic properties of publicly available shotgun datasets of human fecal samples collected from different geographical regions (Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania). Such datasets encompassed gut microbiota information corresponding to 13 developed/industrialized societies, as well as two traditional hunter-gatherer, pre-agricultural communities (Tanzanian and Peruvian individuals).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ancient microbiota information represents an important resource to evaluate bacterial evolution and to explore the biological spread of infectious diseases in history. The soft tissue of frozen mummified humans, such as the Tyrolean Iceman, has been shown to contain bacterial DNA that is suitable for population profiling of the prehistoric bacteria that colonized such ancient human hosts.
Results: Here, we performed a microbial cataloging of the distal gut microbiota of the Tyrolean Iceman, which highlights a predominant abundance of Clostridium and Pseudomonas species.
Unlabelled: The microbiota of the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) may regularly be exposed to antibiotics, which are used to prevent and treat infectious diseases caused by bacteria and fungi. Bacterial communities of the gut retain a reservoir of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes, and antibiotic therapy thus positively selects for those microorganisms that harbor such genetic features, causing microbiota modulation. During the first months following birth, bifidobacteria represent some of the most dominant components of the human gut microbiota, although little is known about their AR gene complement (or resistome).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe release of the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) incorporated in a new drug carrier, namely a chimeric nanosystem formed by liposomes and dendrimers, was studied following the influence of the drug on the growth kinetics of the Lactobacillus helveticus bacterium, that would mimic the intestinal microflora. The bacterial growth was followed at 37°C by means of Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) and the method was assessed to monitor the overall effect of the delivered drug obtaining simple objective parameters to define the encapsulation effectiveness of the system, discriminating dose effects even in cases of very low release. Traditional microbiological investigations and in vitro release tests were also performed in parallel for validation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring last decades canine health and well being is becoming an important issue for human owners. In dogs, several factors including diet, pathogenic bacterial and stress conditions can affect the composition of the gut microbiota. In this study, we evaluated the effect of dietary chabazitic zeolitite (CZ) supplementation on the contribution of bifidobacteria to the fecal microbiota in training hunting dogs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUlcerative colitis (UC) is associated with a substantial alteration of specific gut commensals, some of which may be involved in microbiota-mediated protection. In this study, microbiota cataloging of UC patients by 16S rRNA microbial profiling revealed a marked reduction of bifidobacteria, in particular the Bifidobacterium bifidum species, thus suggesting that this taxon plays a biological role in the aetiology of UC. We investigated this further through an in vivo trial by testing the effects of oral treatment with B.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Modulation of the intestinal microbial ecosystem (IME) is a useful target to establish probiotic efficacy in a healthy population. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, crossover, and placebo-controlled intervention study to determine the impact of Bifidobacterium bifidum strain Bb on the IME of adult healthy volunteers of both sexes. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to characterize the fecal microbiota before and after 4 weeks of daily probiotic cell consumption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfter bariatric surgery the risk of alcohol use disorders is increased. This risk is greater after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass than after sleeve gastrectomy or gastric banding. These differences can be explained by modification in alcohol metabolism after gastric bypass, which increases peak alcohol levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe gut microbiota composition of elderly hospitalized patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) exposed to previous antibiotic treatment is still poorly investigated. The aim of this study was to compare the microbiota composition by means of 16S rRNA microbial profiling among three groups of hospitalized elderly patients (age ≥ 65) under standard diet including 25 CDI-positive (CDI group), 29 CDI-negative exposed to antibiotic treatment (AB+ group) and 30 CDI-negative subjects not on antibiotic treatment (AB- group). The functional properties of the gut microbiomes of CDI-positive vs CDI-negative subjects were also assessed by shotgun metagenomics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe gastrointestinal tract of poultry is densely populated with microorganisms, which are presumed to interact with the host and ingested feed. Comparison of the gut microbiota of chickens used for large-scale commercial production (Broiler Chicken, BC) and those grown in semi-wild conditions (Free-Range Chicken, FRC) revealed that at phylum level Firmicutes was the dominant phylum of the gut community in BC, while the gut microbiota of FRC contained higher levels of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. Such differences may be due to the diet and/or the intensive use of antibiotics in BC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBifidobacteria are members of the human gut microbiota, being numerically dominant in the colon of infants, while also being prevalent in the large intestine of adults. In this study, we determined and analyzed the pan-genome of Bifidobacterium adolescentis, which is one of many bacteria found in the human adult gut microbiota. In silico analysis of the genome sequences of eighteen B.
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