Publications by authors named "Helena Heimes"
Chemostat systems can be used to cultivate complex intestinal microbial communities ex vivo. Here, we present a protocol to transfer bacteria from human fecal material into chemostat systems as well as settings to simulate infant or adult colonic conditions. We describe the experimental setup, media design, donor selection, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, and circadian analysis of bacterial abundance.
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- Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) is a crucial treatment for pediatric Crohn's disease, but the exact protective mechanisms of how it works are not fully understood.
- A research study analyzed the fecal microbiota and metabolites in treatment-naive Crohn’s patients, identifying key protective features like Lachnospiraceae and medium-chain fatty acids.
- The findings demonstrated that EEN leads to distinct changes in gut microbiome compositions that vary by individual, potentially influencing the development or prevention of inflammatory bowel disease through these microbiome dynamics.
Background: Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with changes in the microbiota, and murine models of CD-like ileo-colonic inflammation depend on the presence of microbial triggers. Increased abundance of unknown Clostridiales and the microscopic detection of filamentous structures close to the epithelium of Tnf mice, a mouse model of CD-like ileitis pointed towards segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB), a commensal mucosal adherent bacterium involved in ileal inflammation.
Results: We show that the abundance of SFB strongly correlates with the severity of CD-like ileal inflammation in two mouse models of ileal inflammation, including Tnf and SAMP/Yit mice.