A Stress Reduction Intervention for Lactating Mothers Alters Maternal Gut, Breast Milk, and Infant Gut Microbiomes: Data from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: This secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigated how the maternal gut, breast milk, and infant gut microbiomes may contribute to the effects of a relaxation intervention, which reduced maternal stress and promoted infant weight gain.

Methods: An RCT was undertaken in healthy Chinese primiparous mother-infant pairs (34-37gestation weeks). Mothers were randomly allocated to either the intervention group (IG, listening to relaxation meditation) or the control group (CG).

Neutrophil extracellular traps formation and clearance is enhanced in fever and attenuated in hypothermia.

Fever and hypothermia represent two opposite strategies for fighting systemic inflammation. Fever results in immune activation; hypothermia is associated with energy conservation. Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) remains a significant cause of mortality worldwide.

Bacterial outer-membrane vesicles promote Vγ9Vδ2 T cell oncolytic activity.

Background: Increasing evidence suggests the immune activation elicited by bacterial outer-membrane vesicles (OMVs) can initiate a potent anti-tumor immunity, facilitating the recognition and destruction of malignant cells. At present the pathways underlying this response remain poorly understood, though a role for innate-like cells such as γδ T cells has been suggested.

Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy donors were co-cultured with MG1655 Δ Δ OMVs and corresponding immune activation studied by cell marker expression and cytokine production.

Linking gastrointestinal microbiota and metabolome dynamics to clinical outcomes in paediatric haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a curative procedure for a variety of conditions. Despite major advances, a plethora of adverse clinical outcomes can develop post-transplantation including graft-versus-host disease and infections, which remain the major causes of morbidity and mortality. There is increasing evidence that the gastrointestinal microbiota is associated with clinical outcomes post-haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Is the skin microbiota a modifiable risk factor for breast disease?: A systematic review.

Purpose: High prevalence, unreliable risk discrimination and poor clinical outcomes are observed in malignant and benign breast diseases (BD). The involvement of microbial communities in the development of BD has become topical, and distal influences of microbial dysregulation in the breast have been well established. Despite advances, the role of the breast skin microbiota in BD remains unclear.