Publications by authors named "Martin I Bahl"

Article Synopsis
  • Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is a long-lasting chemical commonly found in various everyday products and is primarily ingested through food.
  • A study in rats compared the effects of high-fiber (HF) versus low-fiber (LF) diets on PFOS absorption and removal from the body, finding that HF reduced PFOS levels in the bloodstream while increasing its excretion in feces.
  • The findings indicate that a diet rich in soluble dietary fibers may enhance the elimination of PFOS and alter gut microbiota composition.
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  • The gut microbiome plays a key role in ulcerative colitis (UC), leading researchers to explore probiotic therapies for reducing inflammation.
  • This study focuses on indole lactic acid (ILA) produced by a specific strain of E. coli (EcN aldh) and its effects on inflammation in a mouse model of colitis.
  • Findings indicate while both EcN strains had no significant impact during acute colitis, EcN aldh may promote recovery from intestinal inflammation after treatment ends.
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For patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), administration of the probiotic E. coli Nissle (EcN) holds promise for alleviation of disease symptoms. The mechanisms are unclear, but it has been hypothesised that a capacity of the probiotic to outcompete potentially detrimental UC-associated E.

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Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is a manmade legacy compound belonging to the group of persistent per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS). While many adverse health effects of PFOS have been identified, knowledge about its effect on the intestinal microbiota is scarce. The microbial community inhabiting the gut of mammals plays an important role in health, for instance by affecting the uptake, excretion, and bioavailability of some xenobiotic toxicants.

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Background: Diets rich in whole grains are associated with health benefits. Yet, it remains unclear whether the benefits are mediated by changes in gut function and fermentation.

Objective: We explored the effects of whole-grain vs.

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Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) are glycans with prebiotic properties known to drive microbial selection in the infant gut, which in turn influences immune development and future health. Bifidobacteria are specialized in HMO degradation and frequently dominate the gut microbiota of breastfed infants. However, some species of also degrade HMOs, which may prompt selection also of these species in the gut microbiota.

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The expanding knowledge of the health impacts of the metabolic activities of the gut microbiota reinforces the current interest in engineered probiotics. Tryptophan metabolites, in particular indole lactic acid (ILA), are attractive candidates as potential therapeutic agents. ILA is a promising compound with multiple beneficial effects, including amelioration colitis in rodent models of necrotizing enterocolitis, as well as improved infant immune system maturation.

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AbstarctIn fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) against recurrent infection (CDI), clinical outcomes are usually determined after 8 weeks. We hypothesized that the intestinal microbiota changes earlier than this timepoint, and analyzed fecal samples obtained 1 week after treatment from 64 patients diagnosed with recurrent CDI and included in a randomized clinical trial, where the infection was treated with either vancomycin-preceded FMT ( = 24), vancomycin ( = 16) or fidaxomicin ( = 24). In comparison with non-responders, patients with sustained resolution after FMT had increased microbial alpha diversity, enrichment of Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae, depletion of Enterobacteriaceae, more pronounced donor microbiota engraftment, and resolution of gut microbiota dysbiosis.

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Drug-loaded electrospun nanofibers are potential drug carrier systems that may optimize disease treatment while reducing the impact on commensal microbes. The feasibility of streptomycin-loaded pullulan nanofibers fabricated from a green electrospinning procedure using water as the solvent was assessed. We conducted a rat study including a group treated with streptomycin-loaded nanofibers (STR-F, n = 5), a group treated with similar concentrations of streptomycin in the drinking water (STR-W, n = 5), and a non-treated control group (CTR, n = 5).

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  • The study investigates how gut microbiota influences energy extraction from food in overweight adults, focusing on stool energy density, intestinal transit time, and microbial community diversity.
  • Contrary to the initial hypothesis, slower intestinal transit is linked to higher stool energy density, with Bacteroides enterotype individuals showing lower energy density and shorter transit times than those with Ruminococcaceae enterotype.
  • These findings indicate that differences in gut microbiome structures and transit times affect energy harvesting, potentially informing obesity treatments based on microbiota management.
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Background: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) effectively prevents the recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). Long-term engraftment of donor-specific microbial consortia may occur in the recipient, but potential further transfer to other sites, including the vertical transmission of donor-specific strains to future generations, has not been investigated. Here, we report, for the first time, the cross-generational transmission of specific bacterial strains from an FMT donor to a pregnant patient with CDI and further to her child, born at term, 26 weeks after the FMT treatment.

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Oral antibiotic treatment is often applied in animal studies in order to allow establishment of an introduced antibiotic-resistant bacterium in the gut. Here, we compared the application of streptomycin dosed orally in microcontainers to dosage through drinking water. The selective effect on a resistant bacterial strain, as well as the effects on fecal, luminal, and mucosal microbiota composition, were investigated.

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Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is a persistent anthropogenic chemical that can affect the thyroid hormone system in humans and animals. In adults, thyroid hormones (THs) are regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis, but also by organs such as the liver and potentially the gut microbiota. PFOS and other xenobiotics can therefore disrupt the TH system at various locations and through different mechanisms.

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The use of antibiotics as well as changes in the gut microbiota have been linked to development of food allergy in childhood. It remains unknown whether administration of a single clinically relevant antibiotic directly promotes food allergy development when administrated during the sensitisation phase in an experimental animal model. We investigated whether the antibiotic amoxicillin affected gut microbiota composition, development of cow's milk allergy (CMA) and frequencies of allergic effector cells and regulatory T cells in the intestine.

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Advanced microbial therapeutics have great potential as a novel modality to diagnose and treat a wide range of diseases. Yet, to realize this potential, robust parts for regulating gene expression and consequent therapeutic activity in situ are needed. In this study, we characterized the expression level of more than 8000 variants of the sigma factor 70 (σ70) promoter in a range of different environmental conditions and growth states using fluorescence-activated cell sorting and deep sequencing.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The rapid development of new cellular and molecular technologies for assessing the safety of food, drugs, and personal care products is evolving, creating a need for their incorporation into regulatory processes.
  • - There are concerns that these emerging technologies may not have been adequately tested for regulatory application, which could hinder their effective use in safety assessments.
  • - To fully utilize these advancements, the regulatory community must devise strategies for evaluating these technologies and collaborate with developers, ensuring that regulatory decisions are informed and efficient.
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Breastfeeding profoundly shapes the infant gut microbiota, which is critical for early life immune development, and the gut microbiota can impact host physiology in various ways, such as through the production of metabolites. However, few breastmilk-dependent microbial metabolites mediating host-microbiota interactions are currently known. Here, we demonstrate that breastmilk-promoted Bifidobacterium species convert aromatic amino acids (tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine) into their respective aromatic lactic acids (indolelactic acid, phenyllactic acid and 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid) via a previously unrecognized aromatic lactate dehydrogenase (ALDH).

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Background: It remains largely unknown how physicochemical properties of hydrolysed infant formulas influence their allergy preventive capacity, and results from clinical and animal studies comparing the preventive capacity of hydrolysed infant formula with conventional infant formula are inconclusive. Thus, the use of hydrolysed infant formula for allergy prevention in atopy-prone infants is highly debated. Furthermore, knowledge on how gut microbiota influences allergy prevention remains scarce.

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Background And Aims: The trigger hypothesis opens the possibility of anti-flare initiation therapies by stating that ulcerative colitis (UC) flares originate from inadequate responses to acute mucosal injuries. However, experimental evidence is restricted by a limited use of suitable human models. We thus aimed to investigate the acute mucosal barrier injury responses in humans with and without UC using an experimental injury model.

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Breastfeeding protects against diseases, with potential mechanisms driving this being human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and the seeding of milk-associated bacteria in the infant gut. In a cohort of 34 mother-infant dyads we analyzed the microbiota and HMO profiles in breast milk samples and infant's feces. The microbiota in foremilk and hindmilk samples of breast milk was compositionally similar, however hindmilk had higher bacterial load and absolute abundance of oral-associated bacteria, but a lower absolute abundance of skin-associated Staphylococcus spp.

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Assessing "dysbiosis" in intestinal microbial communities is increasingly considered a routine analysis in microbiota studies, and it has added relevant information to the prediction and characterization of diseases and other adverse conditions. However, dysbiosis is not a well-defined condition. A variety of different dysbiosis indexes have been suggested and applied, but their underlying methodologies, as well as the cohorts and conditions for which they have been developed, differ considerably.

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Article Synopsis
  • Individuals with IgA deficiency (IgAD) often experience recurrent mucosal infections, possibly due to changes in their gut microbiota, which is shaped by their IgA levels and antibody status.
  • A study analyzed fecal samples from 100 IgAD individuals and their IgA-sufficient household members, finding that those with IgAD had a less diverse gut microbiota and higher levels of bacteria associated with pathogenic traits.
  • The findings suggest that the altered microbiota in IgAD patients may heighten inflammation and reduce resistance to gut disturbances, especially in those with specific autoantibodies to IgA, indicating a need for antibody screening in these patients.
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The gut microbiome has combined with other person-specific information, such as blood parameters, dietary habits, anthropometrics, and physical activity been found to predict personalized postprandial glucose responses (PPGRs) to various foods. Yet, the contributions of specific microbiome taxa, measures of fermentation, and abiotic factors in the colon to glycemic control remain elusive. We tested whether PPGRs 60 min after a standardized breakfast was associated with gut microbial α-diversity (primary outcome) and explored whether postprandial responses of glucose and insulin were associated with specific microbiome taxa, colonic fermentation as reflected by fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and breath hydrogen and methane exhalation, as well as abiotic factors including fecal pH, fecal water content, fecal energy density, intestinal transit time (ITT), and stool consistency.

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