Publications by authors named "Elin Org"

The microbiota in individual habitats differ in both relative composition and absolute abundance. While sequencing approaches determine the relative abundances of taxa and genes, they do not provide information on their absolute abundances. Here, we developed a machine-learning approach to predict fecal microbial loads (microbial cells per gram) solely from relative abundance data.

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The co-occurrence of multiple chronic conditions, termed multimorbidity, presents an expanding global health challenge, demanding effective diagnostics and treatment strategies. Chronic ailments such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases have been linked to metabolites interacting between the host and microbiota. In this study, we investigated the impact of co-existing conditions on risk estimations for 1375 plasma metabolites in 919 individuals from population-based Estonian Biobank cohort using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method.

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Recent evidence indicates that repeated antibiotic usage lowers microbial diversity and ultimately changes the gut microbiota community. However, the physiological effects of repeated - but not recent - antibiotic usage on microbiota-mediated mucosal barrier function are largely unknown. By selecting human individuals from the deeply phenotyped Estonian Microbiome Cohort (EstMB), we here utilized human-to-mouse fecal microbiota transplantation to explore long-term impacts of repeated antibiotic use on intestinal mucus function.

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Background: Endometriosis, defined as the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside of the uterus, is one of the most prevalent gynecological disorders. Although different theories have been proposed, its pathogenesis is not clear. Novel studies indicate that the gut microbiome may be involved in the etiology of endometriosis; nevertheless, the connection between microbes, their dysbiosis, and the development of endometriosis is understudied.

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The beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) on gut microbiome have been reported, nevertheless the findings are inconsistent, with the main limitation of subjective methods for assessing PA. It is well accepted that using an objective assessment of PA reduces the measurement error and also allows objective assessment of sedentary behavior (SB). We aimed to study the associations between accelerometer-assessed behaviors (i.

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Recent studies highlight the presence of bacterial sequences in the human blood, suggesting potential clinical significance for circulating microbial signatures. These sequences could presumably serve in the diagnosis, prediction, or monitoring of various health conditions. Ensuring the similarity of samples before bacterial analysis is crucial, especially when combining samples from different biobanks prepared under varying conditions (such as different DNA extraction kits, centrifugation conditions, blood collection tubes, etc.

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Studies have proven the significance of microbial communities in various parts of the human body for health. In recent years it has been discovered that the uterine cavity is not sterile, and endometrium has its own microbiome which appears to have an impact on female fertility and gynecological pathologies. has shown to dominate the microbial profile in the uterus and is considered an indicator of a healthy uterine environment.

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Human gut microbiome is subject to high inter-individual and temporal variability, which complicates building microbiome-based applications, including applications that can be used to improve public health. Categorizing the microbiome profiles into a small number of distinct clusters, such as enterotyping, has been proposed as a solution that can ameliorate these shortcomings. However, the clinical relevance of the enterotypes is poorly characterized despite a few studies marking the potential for using the enterotypes for disease diagnostics and personalized nutrition.

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Microbiome research is starting to move beyond the exploratory phase towards interventional trials and therefore well-characterized cohorts will be instrumental for generating hypotheses and providing new knowledge. As part of the Estonian Biobank, we established the Estonian Microbiome Cohort which includes stool, oral and plasma samples from 2509 participants and is supplemented with multi-omic measurements, questionnaires, and regular linkages to national electronic health records. Here we analyze stool data from deep metagenomic sequencing together with rich phenotyping, including 71 diseases, 136 medications, 21 dietary questions, 5 medical procedures, and 19 other factors.

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Introduction: The endometrial microbiota has been linked to several gynecological disorders, including infertility. It has been shown that the microbial profile of endometrium could have a role in fertilization and pregnancy outcomes. In this study we aim to assess the microbial community of endometrial tissue (ET) and endometrial fluid (EF) samples in women receiving in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.

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-alpha glycerylphosphorylcholine (GPC), a nutritional supplement, has been demonstrated to improve neurological function. However, a new study suggests that GPC supplementation increases incident stroke risk thus its potential adverse effects warrant further investigation. Here we show that GPC promotes atherosclerosis in hyperlipidemic mice.

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a challenging public health problem which successful treatment depends on the stage at diagnosis. Recently, CRC-specific microbiome signatures have been proposed as a marker for CRC detection. Since many countries have initiated CRC screening programs, it would be useful to analyze the microbiome in the samples collected in fecal immunochemical test (FIT) tubes for fecal occult blood testing.

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The number of microbiome-related studies has notably increased the availability of data on human microbiome composition and function. These studies provide the essential material to deeply explore host-microbiome associations and their relation to the development and progression of various complex diseases. Improved data-analytical tools are needed to exploit all information from these biological datasets, taking into account the peculiarities of microbiome data, i.

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The incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been increasing globally, and a growing body of evidence links type 2 diabetes with altered microbiota composition. Type 2 diabetes is preceded by a long prediabetic state characterized by changes in various metabolic parameters. We tested whether the gut microbiome could have predictive potential for T2D development during the healthy and prediabetic disease stages.

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To study the effect of host genetics on gut microbiome composition, the MiBioGen consortium curated and analyzed genome-wide genotypes and 16S fecal microbiome data from 18,340 individuals (24 cohorts). Microbial composition showed high variability across cohorts: only 9 of 410 genera were detected in more than 95% of samples. A genome-wide association study of host genetic variation regarding microbial taxa identified 31 loci affecting the microbiome at a genome-wide significant (P < 5 × 10) threshold.

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Context: Despite the gut microbiome being widely studied in metabolic diseases, its role in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has been scarcely investigated.

Objective: Compare the gut microbiome in late fertile age women with and without PCOS and investigate whether changes in the gut microbiome correlate with PCOS-related metabolic parameters.

Design: Prospective, case-control study using the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.

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Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED) is caused by recessive mutations in the gene. The hallmark of the disease is the production of highly neutralizing autoantibodies against type I interferons and IL-22. Considering the importance of IL-22 in maintaining mucosal barrier integrity and shaping its microbial community, we sought to study potential changes in the oral cavity in this model of human IL-22 paucity.

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In the version of this article originally published, the name of author Martin H. de Borst was coded incorrectly in the XML. The error has now been corrected in the HTML version of the paper.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lower levels of butyrate-producing bacteria, specifically the genus Roseburia, are observed in humans with metabolic and inflammatory diseases, yet their causal relationship with disease development is unclear.
  • Research on genetically diverse mice shows that Roseburia is linked to reduced atherosclerosis lesions, suggesting a beneficial role in cardiovascular health.
  • The study highlights that dietary plant polysaccharides enhance the effects of Roseburia on metabolism and inflammation, indicating that promoting butyrate-producing bacteria through diet could help prevent atherosclerosis.
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Article Synopsis
  • High blood pressure is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is influenced by genetics, but it can be modified through lifestyle changes.
  • This research is the largest genetic study on blood pressure, involving over 1 million individuals of European descent, identifying 535 new genetic loci related to blood pressure traits like systolic and diastolic pressure.
  • The study reveals new biological pathways for regulating blood pressure, which could lead to better prevention strategies for cardiovascular disease in the future.
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One approach to understanding gut microbiome-host interactions, described in this review, is to examine how natural variation in a model organism, where environmental factors can be controlled, affects the microbiome and, in turn, how the microbiome is associated with physiological or clinical traits. A variation of this approach, termed "systems genetics" is to characterize both the microbiome and the host using various high throughput technologies, such as metabolomics or gene expression of the microbiome and the host. By relating variation in the microbiome and host functions to such "molecular phenotypes", hypotheses can be generated and then experimentally tested.

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Elevated blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and has a substantial genetic contribution. Genetic variation influencing blood pressure has the potential to identify new pharmacological targets for the treatment of hypertension. To discover additional novel blood pressure loci, we used 1000 Genomes Project-based imputation in 150 134 European ancestry individuals and sought significant evidence for independent replication in a further 228 245 individuals.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study profiles gut microbiota in 531 Finnish men to understand its impact on metabolic and cardiovascular health using advanced sequencing techniques.
  • It uncovers new links between gut microbes and various metabolites, particularly focusing on TMAO, which relates to cardiovascular risks.
  • The research highlights significant correlations between gut microbiota composition and metabolites, especially in different body mass index groups and pre-diabetic individuals, laying the groundwork for future studies on gut health.
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A typical genome-wide association study tests correlation between a single phenotype and each genotype one at a time. However, single-phenotype analysis might miss unmeasured aspects of complex biological networks. Analyzing many phenotypes simultaneously may increase the power to capture these unmeasured aspects and detect more variants.

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