Acute inorganic nitrate ingestion does not impact oral microbial composition, cognitive function, or high-intensity exercise performance in female team-sport athletes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute nitrate (NO)-rich beetroot juice ingestion on explosive and high-intensity exercise performance, oral microbiota composition, and cognitive flexibility (i.e., function), before and after maximal intermittent running exercise.

Elucidating the roles of the mammary and gut microbiomes in breast cancer development.

The mammary microbiome is a newly characterized bacterial niche that might offer biological insight into the development of breast cancer. Together with in-depth analysis of the gut microbiome in breast cancer, current evidence using next-generation sequencing and metabolic profiling suggests compositional and functional shifts in microbial consortia are associated with breast cancer. In this review, we discuss the fundamental studies that have progressed this important area of research, focusing on the roles of both the mammary tissue microbiome and the gut microbiome.

Exploring breast tissue microbial composition and the association with breast cancer risk factors.

Background: Microbial dysbiosis has emerged as an important element in the development and progression of various cancers, including breast cancer. However, the microbial composition of the breast from healthy individuals, even relative to risk of developing breast cancer, remains unclear. Here, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the microbiota of the normal breast tissue, which was analyzed in relation to the microbial composition of the tumor and adjacent normal tissue.

Surfeit folic acid, protein, and exercise modify oncogenic inflammatory biomarkers and fecal microbiota.

Intestinal microbiota, diet, and physical activity are inextricably linked to inflammation occurring in the presence of tumor progression and declining neurocognition. This study aimed to explore how fecal microbiota, inflammatory biomarkers, and neurocognitive behavior are influenced by voluntary exercise and surplus dietary protein and folic acid which are common health choices. Dietary treatments provided over 8 weeks to C57BL/CJ male mice ( = 76) were: Folic Acid (FA) Protein (P) Control (FPC, 17.

Composition and Functional Potential of the Human Mammary Microbiota Prior to and Following Breast Tumor Diagnosis.

Microbiota studies have reported changes in the microbial composition of the breast upon cancer development. However, results are inconsistent and limited to the later phases of cancer development (after diagnosis). We analyzed and compared the resident bacterial taxa of histologically normal breast tissue (healthy, H,  = 49) with those of tissues donated prior to (prediagnostic, PD,  = 15) and after (adjacent normal, AN,  = 49, and tumor, T,  = 46) breast cancer diagnosis ( total = 159).

Analysis of Microbial Water Contamination, Soil Microbial Community Structure, and Soil Respiration in a Collaborative First-Year Students as Scholars Program (SAS).

The persistence of college students in STEM majors after their first-year of college is approximately 50%, with underrepresented populations displaying even higher rates of departure. For many undergraduates, their first-year in college is defined by large class sizes, poor access to research faculty, and minimal standing in communities of scholars. Pepperdine University and Whittier College, funded by a National Science Foundation award to Improve Undergraduate Stem Education (NSF IUSE), partnered in the development of first-year classes specifically geared to improve student persistence in STEM and academic success.

Does Consumption of Fermented Foods Modify the Human Gut Microbiota?

The human microbiota is a key contributor to many aspects of human health and its composition is largely influenced by diet. There is a growing body of scientific evidence to suggest that gut dysbiosis (microbial imbalance of the intestine) is associated with inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases (e.g.

Decreasing antibiotic use, the gut microbiota, and asthma incidence in children: evidence from population-based and prospective cohort studies.

Background: Childhood asthma incidence is decreasing in some parts of Europe and North America. Antibiotic use in infancy has been associated with increased asthma risk. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that decreases in asthma incidence are linked to reduced antibiotic prescribing and mediated by changes in the gut bacterial community.

Inverse association between estrogen receptor-α DNA methylation and breast composition in adolescent Chilean girls.

Background: Estrogen receptor-α (ER-α) is a transcriptional regulator, which mediates estrogen-dependent breast development, as well as breast tumorigenesis. The influence of epigenetic regulation of ER-α on adolescent breast composition has not been previously studied and could serve as a marker of pubertal health and susceptibility to breast cancer. We investigated the association between ER-α DNA methylation in leukocytes and breast composition in adolescent Chilean girls enrolled in the Growth and Obesity Cohort Study (GOCS) in Santiago, Chile.

The Role of the Microbiome in the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.

Although the prominent role of the microbiome in human health has been established, the early-life microbiome is now being recognized as a major influence on long-term human health and development. Variations in the composition and functional potential of the early-life microbiome are the result of lifestyle factors, such as mode of birth, breastfeeding, diet, and antibiotic usage. In addition, variations in the composition of the early-life microbiome have been associated with specific disease outcomes, such as asthma, obesity, and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Asthma and the microbiome: .

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory immune disorder of the airways affecting one in ten children in westernized countries. The geographical disparity combined with a generational rise in prevalence, emphasizes that changing environmental exposures play a significant role in the etiology of this disease. The microflora hypothesis suggests that early life exposures are disrupting the composition of the microbiota and consequently, promoting immune dysregulation in the form of hypersensitivity disorders.

Shifts in Lachnospira and Clostridium sp. in the 3-month stool microbiome are associated with preschool age asthma.

Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways affecting one in ten children in Westernized countries. Recently, our group showed that specific bacterial genera in early life are associated with atopy and wheezing in 1-year-old children. However, little is known about the link between the early life gut microbiome and the diagnosis of asthma in preschool age children.

Early infancy microbial and metabolic alterations affect risk of childhood asthma.

Asthma is the most prevalent pediatric chronic disease and affects more than 300 million people worldwide. Recent evidence in mice has identified a "critical window" early in life where gut microbial changes (dysbiosis) are most influential in experimental asthma. However, current research has yet to establish whether these changes precede or are involved in human asthma.

The hygiene hypothesis: current perspectives and future therapies.

Developed countries have experienced a steady increase in atopic disease and disorders of immune dysregulation since the 1980s. This increase parallels a decrease in infectious diseases within the same time period, while developing countries seem to exhibit the opposite effect, with less immune dysregulation and a higher prevalence of infectious disease. The "hygiene hypothesis", proposed by Strachan in 1989, aimed to explain this peculiar generational rise in immune dysregulation.

The intestinal microbiome in early life: health and disease.

Human microbial colonization begins at birth and continues to develop and modulate in species abundance for about 3 years, until the microbiota becomes adult-like. During the same time period, children experience significant developmental changes that influence their health status as well as their immune system. An ever-expanding number of articles associate several diseases with early-life imbalances of the gut microbiota, also referred to as gut microbial dysbiosis.

An antibiotic-altered microbiota provides fuel for the enteric foe.

Antibiotic therapies disrupt the intestinal microbiota and render the host susceptible to enteric infections. A recent report by Ng et al. explores the ability of two intestinal pathogens (Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Clostridium difficile) to use this disruption to their advantage and consume host carbohydrates that would otherwise be unavailable in the presence of a normal gut microbiota.