Prediction of high fecal propionate-to-butyrate ratios using 16S rRNA-based detection of bacterial groups with liquid array diagnostics.

Butyrate and propionate represent two of three main short-chain fatty acids produced by the intestinal microbiota. In healthy populations, their levels are reportedly equimolar, whereas a deviation in their ratio has been observed in various diseased cohorts. Monitoring such a ratio represents a valuable metric; however, it remains a challenge to adopt short-chain fatty acid detection techniques in clinical settings because of the volatile nature of these acids.

HumGut: a comprehensive human gut prokaryotic genomes collection filtered by metagenome data.

Background: A major bottleneck in the use of metagenome sequencing for human gut microbiome studies has been the lack of a comprehensive genome collection to be used as a reference database. Several recent efforts have been made to re-construct genomes from human gut metagenome data, resulting in a huge increase in the number of relevant genomes. In this work, we aimed to create a collection of the most prevalent healthy human gut prokaryotic genomes, to be used as a reference database, including both MAGs from the human gut and ordinary RefSeq genomes.

Improving the performance of proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers with low Ir-loaded anodes by adding PEDOT:PSS as electrically conductive binder.

Reducing the iridium catalyst loading in the anode of polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzers is a major goal to bring down the cost. However, anodes with low Ir-loading can suffer from poor electrical connectivity and hence lower the efficiency of the electrolyzer. In this work, we replace parts of the Nafion binder in the anode with an electrically conductive polymer (poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene and polystyrene sulfonate acid complex, PEDOT:PSS) to counter this effect.

Effects of Dietary Fibres on Acute Indomethacin-Induced Intestinal Hyperpermeability in the Elderly: A Randomised Placebo Controlled Parallel Clinical Trial.

The effect of dietary fibres on intestinal barrier function has not been well studied, especially in the elderly. We aimed to investigate the potential of the dietary fibres oat β-glucan and wheat arabinoxylan to strengthen the intestinal barrier function and counteract acute non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (indomethacin)-induced hyperpermeability in the elderly. A general population of elderly subjects (≥65 years, = 49) was randomised to a daily supplementation (12g/day) of oat β-glucan, arabinoxylan or placebo (maltodextrin) for six weeks.

Deviations in human gut microbiota: a novel diagnostic test for determining dysbiosis in patients with IBS or IBD.

Background: Dysbiosis is associated with many diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), obesity and diabetes. Potential clinical impact of imbalance in the intestinal microbiota suggests need for new standardised diagnostic methods to facilitate microbiome profiling.

Aim: To develop and validate a novel diagnostic test using faecal samples to profile the intestinal microbiota and identify and characterise dysbiosis.