Standards for fecal microbiota transplant: Tools and therapeutic advances.

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been demonstrated to be efficacious in preventing recurrent Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infections, and is being investigated for treatment of several other diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, obesity, liver disease, and diabetes. To speed up the translation of FMT into clinical practice as a safe and standardized therapeutic intervention, additional evidence-based technical and regulatory guidance is needed.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. PARA-AORTIC LYMPH NODES SAMPLING DURING PANCREATODUODENECTOMY FOR PANCREATIC CANCER.

Background: Para-aortic lymph nodes involvement in pancreatic head cancer has been described as an independent adverse prognostic factor. To avoid futile pancreatic resection, we systematically perform para-aortic lymphadenectomy as a first step.

Aims: To describe our technique for para-aortic lymphadenectomy.

Single-cell scattering and auto-fluorescence-based fast antibiotic susceptibility testing for gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.

In this study, we assess the scattering of light and auto-fluorescence from single bacterial cells to address the challenge of fast (<2 h), label-free phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Label-free flow cytometry is used for monitoring both the respiration-related auto-fluorescence in two different fluorescence channels corresponding to FAD and NADH, and the morphological and structural information contained in the light scattered by individual bacteria during incubation with or without antibiotic. Large multi-parameter data are analyzed using dimensionality reduction methods, based either on a combination of 2D binning and Principal Component Analysis, or with a one-class Support Vector Machine approach, with the objective to predict the Susceptible or Resistant phenotype of the strain.

Deep longitudinal multi-omics analysis of cultivated in bioreactors highlights medium starvations and transitory metabolisms, associated to vaccine antigen biosynthesis variations and global virulence regulation.

is the bacterial causative agent of whooping cough, a serious respiratory illness. An extensive knowledge on its virulence regulation and metabolism is a key factor to ensure pertussis vaccine manufacturing process robustness. The aim of this study was to refine our comprehension of .

Systematic C-reactive protein monitoring reduces hospital stay after laparoscopic ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. A comparative study of 158 consecutive patients with ulcerative colitis.

Aim: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a common biomarker of inflammation which has largely been used to predict the risk of postoperative septic complications after colorectal surgery. However, no data exist concerning its potential benefit after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) for ulcerative colitis (UC). The aim of this study was to evaluate a CRP-driven monitoring discharge strategy after laparoscopic IPAA for UC.

C-reactive protein monitoring after ileocecal resection and stoma closure reduces length of hospital stay: a prospective case-matched study in 410 patients with Crohn's disease.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate a C-reactive protein (CRP)-driven monitoring discharge strategy for patients with Crohn's disease (CD) undergoing laparoscopic ileo-cecal resection (ICR) and if needed, temporary stoma closure (SC).

Methods: Four hundred and ten patients who underwent laparoscopic ICR for CD: 153 patients (CRP group) between June 2016 and June 2020 at our department, had a CRP-driven monitoring discharge on postoperative day (POD) 3 and were discharged on POD 4 if CRP < 100 mg/L. These patients were matched (according to age, sex, body mass index, type of CD (and stoma or not) to 257 patients who underwent laparoscopic ICR for CD between January 2009 and May 2016, without CRP monitoring (Control group).

Performance of non-invasive biomarkers compared with invasive methods for risk prediction of posthepatectomy liver failure in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) is a rare but dreaded complication. The aim was to test whether a combination of non-invasive biomarkers (NIBs) and CT data could predict the risk of PHLF in patients who underwent resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Patients with HCC who had liver resection between 2012 and 2020 were included.

Dynamic single-cell phenotyping of immune cells using the microfluidic platform DropMap.

Characterization of immune responses is currently hampered by the lack of systems enabling quantitative and dynamic phenotypic characterization of individual cells and, in particular, analysis of secreted proteins such as cytokines and antibodies. We recently developed a simple and robust microfluidic platform, DropMap, to measure simultaneously the kinetics of secretion and other cellular characteristics, including endocytosis activity, viability and expression of cell-surface markers, from tens of thousands of single immune cells. Single cells are compartmentalized in 50-pL droplets and analyzed using fluorescence microscopy combined with an immunoassay based on fluorescence relocation to paramagnetic nanoparticles aligned to form beadlines in a magnetic field.

Polymorphisms of a Collagen-Like Adhesin Contributes to Adhesion, Biofilm Formation Capacity and Clinical Prevalence.

Legionellosis is a severe respiratory illness caused by the inhalation of aerosolized water droplets contaminated with the opportunistic pathogen . The ability of to produce biofilms has been associated with its capacity to colonize and persist in human-made water reservoirs and distribution systems, which are the source of legionellosis outbreaks. Nevertheless, the factors that mediate biofilm formation are largely unknown.

Biosensors for the Detection of Interaction between Collagen-Like Protein and Glycosaminoglycans.

The adhesin Legionella collagen-like (Lcl) protein can bind to extracellular matrix components and mediate the binding of to host cells. In this study, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based biosensors were employed to characterize these interactions between glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and the adhesin Lcl protein. Fucoidan displayed a high affinity (K 18 nM) for Lcl protein.

Small Rho GTPases and the Effector VipA Mediate the Invasion of Epithelial Cells by Filamentous .

(Lp) exhibits different morphologies with varying degrees of virulence. Despite their detection in environmental sources of outbreaks and in respiratory tract secretions and lung autopsies from patients, the filamentous morphotype of Lp remains poorly studied. We previously demonstrated that filamentous Lp invades lung epithelial cells (LECs) and replicates intracellularly in a containing vacuole.

Active and adaptive Legionella CRISPR-Cas reveals a recurrent challenge to the pathogen.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats with CRISPR-associated gene (CRISPR-Cas) systems are widely recognized as critical genome defense systems that protect microbes from external threats such as bacteriophage infection. Several isolates of the intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila possess multiple CRISPR-Cas systems (type I-C, type I-F and type II-B), yet the targets of these systems remain unknown. With the recent observation that at least one of these systems (II-B) plays a non-canonical role in supporting intracellular replication, the possibility remained that these systems are vestigial genome defense systems co-opted for other purposes.

Filamentous morphology of bacteria delays the timing of phagosome morphogenesis in macrophages.

Although filamentous morphology in bacteria has been associated with resistance to phagocytosis, our understanding of the cellular mechanisms behind this process is limited. To investigate this, we followed the phagocytosis of both viable and dead Legionella pneumophila filaments. The engulfment of these targets occurred gradually and along the longitudinal axis of the filament, therefore defining a long-lasting phagocytic cup stage that determined the outcome of phagocytosis.

The Legionella pneumophila collagen-like protein mediates sedimentation, autoaggregation, and pathogen-phagocyte interactions.

Although only partially understood, multicellular behavior is relatively common in bacterial pathogens. Bacterial aggregates can resist various host defenses and colonize their environment more efficiently than planktonic cells. For the waterborne pathogen Legionella pneumophila, little is known about the roles of autoaggregation or the parameters which allow cell-cell interactions to occur.

Antimicrobial activity of solithromycin against clinical isolates of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1.

The activity of solithromycin was evaluated against clinical Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (Lp1) isolates (n = 196) collected in Ontario, Canada, from 1980 to 2011. Its in vitro activity was compared to that of azithromycin (AZM) using the broth microdilution method. Solithromycin had a MIC50 of ≤0.

Biofilms: the stronghold of Legionella pneumophila.

Legionellosis is mostly caused by Legionella pneumophila and is defined as a severe respiratory illness with a case fatality rate ranging from 5% to 80%. L. pneumophila is ubiquitous in natural and anthropogenic water systems.

Periplasmic flagellar export apparatus protein, FliH, is involved in post-transcriptional regulation of FlaB, motility and virulence of the relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia hermsii.

Spirochetes are bacteria characterized in part by rotating periplasmic flagella that impart their helical or flat-wave morphology and motility. While most other bacteria rely on a transcriptional cascade to regulate the expression of motility genes, spirochetes employ post-transcriptional mechanism(s) that are only partially known. In the present study, we characterize a spontaneous non-motile mutant of the relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia hermsii that was straight, non-motile and deficient in periplasmic flagella.

Comparative Genomics Reveal That Host-Innate Immune Responses Influence the Clinical Prevalence of Legionella pneumophila Serogroups.

Legionella pneumophila is the primary etiologic agent of legionellosis, a potentially fatal respiratory illness. Amongst the sixteen described L. pneumophila serogroups, a majority of the clinical infections diagnosed using standard methods are serogroup 1 (Sg1).

Determination of Activities of Solithromycin at Different pHs and Its Intracellular Activity against Clinical Isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from a Laboratory Collection.

We evaluated the activity of solithromycin against 196 clinical gonococcal isolates collected at the Public Health Ontario Laboratories, Toronto, Canada, including isolates with different levels of azithromycin resistance, as well as the role of pH in MIC determinations using pH-adjusted agar plates (pH range, 5.6 to 7.6).

Essential roles and regulation of the Legionella pneumophila collagen-like adhesin during biofilm formation.

Legionellosis is mostly caused by Legionella pneumophila (Lp) and is defined by a severe respiratory illness with a case fatality rate ranging from 5 to 80%. In a previous study, we showed that a glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-binding adhesin of Lp, named Lcl, is produced during legionellosis and is unique to the L. pneumophila species.

Photonic crystals on copolymer film for bacteria detection.

The development of two-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs) on a copolymer film is described in connection with Fresnel reflection spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy. Label-free detection of Legionella pneumophila was performed using a PC platform with a detection limit of 200 cells/mL. L.

Mechanism of invasion of lung epithelial cells by filamentous Legionella pneumophila.

Legionella, the aetiological agent responsible for Legionellosis, is an opportunistic pathogen that infects humans upon the inhalation of contaminated aerosolized water droplets. Legionella is pleomorphic and its different morphotypes exhibit varying degrees of virulence. While the filamentous forms of Legionella pneumophila (Lp) have been reported in patient samples since the first description of legionellosis, their role in disease has not been studied.