Microbiome testing in Europe: navigating analytical, ethical and regulatory challenges.

Background: In recent years, human microbiome research has flourished and has drawn attention from both healthcare professionals and general consumers as the human microbiome is now recognized as having a significant influence on human health. This has led to the emergence of companies offering microbiome testing services. Some of these services are sold directly to the consumer via companies' websites or via medical laboratory websites.

State of the art and the future of microbiome-based biomarkers: a multidisciplinary Delphi consensus.

Although microbiome signatures have been identified in various contexts (ie, pathogenesis of non-communicable diseases and treatment response), qualified microbiome-based biomarkers are currently not in use in clinical practice. The Human Microbiome Action consortium initiated a Delphi survey to establish a consensus on the needs, challenges, and limitations in developing qualified microbiome-based biomarkers. The questionnaire was developed by a scientific committee via literature review and expert interviews.

Gut Microbiome Integration in Drug Discovery and Development of Small Molecules.

Human microbiomes, particularly in the gut, could have a major impact on the efficacy and toxicity of drugs. However, gut microbial metabolism is often neglected in the drug discovery and development process. Medicen, a Paris-based human health innovation cluster, has gathered more than 30 international leading experts from pharma, academia, biotech, clinical research organizations, and regulatory science to develop proposals to facilitate the integration of microbiome science into drug discovery and development.

Update on microbiota-derived therapies for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections.

Background: Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is the standard treatment for patients with multiple recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI). Recently, new commercially developed human microbiota-derived medicinal products have been evaluated and Food and Drug Administration-approved with considerable differences in terms of composition, administration, and targeted populations.

Objectives: To review available data on the different microbiota-derived treatments at the stage of advanced clinical evaluation and research in rCDI in comparison with FMT.

Postbiotics in the medical field under the perspective of the ISAPP definition: scientific, regulatory, and marketing considerations.

Diverse terms have been used in the literature to refer to the health benefits obtained from the administration of non-viable microorganisms or their cell fragments and metabolites. In an effort to provide continuity to this emerging field, the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) convened a panel of experts to consider this category of substances and adopted the term postbiotic, which they defined as a "preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host." This definition does not stipulate any specific health benefit, finished product, target population or regulatory status.

Pasteurized improves glucose metabolism is linked with increased hypothalamic nitric oxide release.

Background And Objective: Pasteurized cells have shown anti-diabetic effects in rodents and human. Although, its primary site of action consists in maintaining the gut barrier function, there are no study exploring if controls glycemia a gut to brain axis. Targeting the gut motility represents an alternative pathway to treat hyperglycemia.

Gut-Kidney Axis Investigations in Animal Models of Chronic Kidney Disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an incurable disease in which renal function gradually declines, resulting in no noticeable symptoms during the early stages and a life-threatening disorder in the latest stage. The changes that accompany renal failure are likely to influence the gut microbiota, or the ecosystem of micro-organisms resident in the intestine. Altered gut microbiota can display metabolic changes and become harmful to the host.

Camu-Camu Reduces Obesity and Improves Diabetic Profiles of Obese and Diabetic Mice: A Dose-Ranging Study.

Overweight, obesity, and their comorbidities are currently considered a major public health concern. Today considerable efforts are still needed to develop efficient strategies able to attenuate the burden of these diseases. Nutritional interventions, some with plant extracts, present promising health benefits.

Serum metabolite profiling yields insights into health promoting effect of A. muciniphila in human volunteers with a metabolic syndrome.

Reduction of relative abundance in the gut microbiota is a widely accepted signature associated with obesity-related metabolic disorders. Using untargeted metabolomics profiling of fasting plasma, our study aimed at identifying metabolic signatures associated with beneficial properties of alive and pasteurized when administrated to a cohort of insulin-resistant individuals with metabolic syndrome. Our data highlighted either shared or specific alterations in the metabolome according to the form of administered with respect to a control group.

is a newly isolated human commensal bacterium preventing diet-induced obesity and metabolic disorders in mice.

Objective: To investigate the abundance and the prevalence of J115, a novel butyrate-producing bacterium isolated from the human gut both in the general population and in subjects with metabolic syndrome. To study the impact of this bacterium on host metabolism using diet-induced obese and diabetic mice.

Design: We analysed the presence and abundance of the bacterium in 11 984 subjects using four human cohorts (ie, Human Microbiome Project, American Gut Project, Flemish Gut Flora Project and Microbes4U).

Beneficial Effects of Are Not Associated with Major Changes in the Circulating Endocannabinoidome but Linked to Higher Mono-Palmitoyl-Glycerol Levels as New PPARα Agonists.

is considered as one of the next-generation beneficial bacteria in the context of obesity and associated metabolic disorders. Although a first proof-of-concept of its beneficial effects has been established in the context of metabolic syndrome in humans, mechanisms are not yet fully understood. This study aimed at deciphering whether the bacterium exerts its beneficial properties through the modulation of the endocannabinoidome (eCBome).

Toxicological safety evaluation of pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila.

Gut microorganisms are vital for many aspects of human health, and the commensal bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila has repeatedly been identified as a key component of intestinal microbiota. Reductions in A. muciniphila abundance are associated with increased prevalence of metabolic disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Functional Effects of EPS-Producing Administration on Energy Metabolic Alterations of Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

Obesity has been recognized by the World Health Organization as a global epidemic. The gut microbiota is considered as a factor involved in the regulation of numerous metabolic pathways by impacting several functions of the host. It has been suggested that probiotics can modulate host gene expression and metabolism, and thereby positively influence host adipose tissue development and obesity related-metabolic disorders.

Supplementation with Akkermansia muciniphila in overweight and obese human volunteers: a proof-of-concept exploratory study.

Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a constellation of comorbidities that predispose individuals to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular pathologies as well as type 2 diabetes mellitus. The gut microbiota is a new key contributor involved in the onset of obesity-related disorders. In humans, studies have provided evidence for a negative correlation between Akkermansia muciniphila abundance and overweight, obesity, untreated type 2 diabetes mellitus or hypertension.

Intestinal epithelial N-acylphosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D links dietary fat to metabolic adaptations in obesity and steatosis.

Variations in N-acylethanolamines (NAE) levels are associated with obesity and metabolic comorbidities. Their role in the gut remains unclear. Therefore, we generated a mouse model of inducible intestinal epithelial cell (IEC)-specific deletion of N-acylphosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD), a key enzyme involved in NAE biosynthesis (Napepld).

Implication of trans-11,trans-13 conjugated linoleic acid in the development of hepatic steatosis.

Scope: Conjugated linoleic acids are linoleic acid isomers found in the diet that can also be produced through bacterial metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Our objective was to evaluate the contribution of fatty acid metabolites produced from polyunsaturated fatty acids by the gut microbiota in vivo to regulation of hepatic lipid metabolism and steatosis.

Methods And Results: In mice with depleted n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, we observed an accumulation of trans-11,trans-13 CLA and cis-9,cis-11 conjugated linoleic acids in the liver tissue that were associated with an increased triglyceride content and expression of lipogenic genes.

Reduced obesity, diabetes, and steatosis upon cinnamon and grape pomace are associated with changes in gut microbiota and markers of gut barrier.

Increasing evidence suggests that polyphenols have a significant potential in the prevention and treatment of risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study was to assess the metabolic outcomes of two polyphenol-containing extracts from cinnamon bark (CBE) and grape pomace (GPE) on C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 wk. Both CBE and GPE were able to decrease fat mass gain and adipose tissue inflammation in mice fed a HFD without reducing food intake.

A full life-cycle bioassay with Cantareus aspersus shows reproductive effects of a glyphosate-based herbicide suggesting potential endocrine disruption.

A full life-cycle (240 days) bioassay using the terrestrial snail, Cantareus aspersus, allowing exposure during embryogenesis and/or the growth and reproduction phases, was used to assess the effects of Bypass, a glyphosate-based herbicide (GlyBH), on a range of endpoints, including parameters under endocrine control. As a positive control, a mixture (R-A) made of diquat (Reglone) and nonylphenols (NP, Agral), known for its endocrine disrupting effects in other organisms, was tested. At environmental concentrations, both pesticides (R-A mixture and GlyBH) enhanced growth but reduced reproduction.

A purified membrane protein from Akkermansia muciniphila or the pasteurized bacterium improves metabolism in obese and diabetic mice.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are associated with low-grade inflammation and specific changes in gut microbiota composition. We previously demonstrated that administration of Akkermansia muciniphila to mice prevents the development of obesity and associated complications. However, the underlying mechanisms of this protective effect remain unclear.

Cross-linked cyclodextrin-based material for treatment of metals and organic substances present in industrial discharge waters.

In this study, a polymer, prepared by crosslinking cyclodextrin (CD) by means of a polycarboxylic acid, was used for the removal of pollutants from spiked solutions and discharge waters from the surface treatment industry. In spiked solutions containing five metals, sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and three alkylphenols (AP), the material exhibited high adsorption capacities: >99% of Co, Ni and Zn were removed, between 65 and 82% of the PAHs, as well as 69 to 90% of the APs. Due to the structure of the polymer and its specific characteristics, such as the presence of carboxylic groups and CD cavities, the adsorption mechanism involves four main interactions: ion exchange, electrostatic interactions and precipitation for metal removal, and inclusion complexes for organics removal.

Hepatocyte MyD88 affects bile acids, gut microbiota and metabolome contributing to regulate glucose and lipid metabolism.

Objective: To examine the role of hepatocyte myeloid differentiation primary-response gene 88 (MyD88) on glucose and lipid metabolism.

Design: To study the impact of the innate immune system at the level of the hepatocyte and metabolism, we generated mice harbouring hepatocyte-specific deletion of . We investigated the impact of the deletion on metabolism by feeding mice with a normal control diet or a high-fat diet for 8 weeks.

Endocannabinoids--at the crossroads between the gut microbiota and host metabolism.

Various metabolic disorders are associated with changes in inflammatory tone. Among the latest advances in the metabolism field, the discovery that gut microorganisms have a major role in host metabolism has revealed the possibility of a plethora of associations between gut bacteria and numerous diseases. However, to date, few mechanisms have been clearly established.

How contamination sources and soil properties can influence the Cd and Pb bioavailability to snails.

To better understand the fate of metals in the environment, numerous parameters must be studied, such as the soil properties and the different sources of contamination for the organisms. Among bioindicators of soil quality, the garden snail (Cantareus aspersus) integrates multiple sources (e.g.