Phosphatidylethanol measures in patients with severe COVID-19-associated respiratory failure identify a subset with alcohol misuse.

Background: Clinical trials in patients with COVID-19 have exclusively used self- or proxy-reporting to characterize alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to measure an objective biomarker of recent alcohol use in patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19-associated respiratory failure who were enrolled in an investigational clinical trial to determine the prevalence of alcohol misuse, and to explore the relationship of alcohol use with outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a substudy of patients enrolled in the multicenter, phase 2, adaptive platform design, Investigation of Serial Studies to Predict Your Therapeutic Response with Imaging And molecular Analysis in COVID-19 trial (ClinicalTrials.

Mixed-method Irish study exploring the role of diet in IBD based on an online questionnaire and a patient panel opinion.

Objective: Diet is a risk factor in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) pathogenesis. This study aims to examine the dietary patterns and beliefs of Irish patients living with IBD through an online questionnaire and subsequent open discussions with an IBD patient collaborator panel (PCP). All data presented here are selected and presented following the PCP's suggestions and views.

Genetic diversity of the Chagas vector Triatoma dimidiata s.l. (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) across geographic scales in a top-priority area for control.

Population genetic structure of arthropod disease vectors provides important information on vector movement and climate or other environmental variables that influence their distribution. This information is critical for data-driven vector control. In the first comprehensive study of the genetic structure of T.

Human intestinal organoids: Modeling gastrointestinal physiology and immunopathology - current applications and limitations.

Human intestinal organoids are an ideal model system for studying gastrointestinal physiology and immunopathology. Altered physiology and mucosal immune response are hallmarks of numerous intestinal functional and inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and obesity. These conditions impact the normal epithelial functions of the intestine, such as absorption, barrier function, secretion, and host-microbiome communication.

Fungal Pathogens Associated with Almond Decline Syndrome, an Emerging Disease Complex in Intensive Almond Crops in Southern Spain.

In 2016, an almond () decline syndrome (ADS) emerged in intensive almond plantations in the Andalusia region (southern Spain), showing branch dieback, gummosis, and general tree decline. The aim of this work was to elucidate the etiology of this disease complex. For this purpose, surveys were conducted across the Andalusia region, and a wide collection of fungi was recovered from wood samples showing gum and internal discoloration.

reduces susceptibility to infection in mice fed a high-fat diet.

A high-fat (HF) diet reduces resistance to the foodborne pathogen . We demonstrate that short-term gavage with increases resistance to oral and systemic infection in mice fed a HF diet. reduced inflammation in the gut and liver of mice fed a high-fat diet prior to infection and reduced inflammatory cell infiltration in the ileum to levels similar to mice fed a low-fat (LF) diet.

An IBD-associated pathobiont synergises with NSAID to promote colitis which is blocked by NLRP3 inflammasome and Caspase-8 inhibitors.

Conflicting evidence exists on the association between consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and symptomatic worsening of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We hypothesized that the heterogeneous prevalence of pathobionts [e.g.

Microbial bile salt hydrolase activity influences gene expression profiles and gastrointestinal maturation in infant mice.

The mechanisms by which early microbial colonizers of the neonate influence gut development are poorly understood. Bacterial bile salt hydrolase (BSH) acts as a putative colonization factor that influences bile acid signatures and microbe-host signaling pathways and we considered whether this activity can influence infant gut development. analysis of the human neonatal gut metagenome confirmed that BSH enzyme sequences are present as early as one day postpartum.

Investigation of the gut microbiome, bile acid composition and host immunoinflammatory response in a model of azoxymethane-induced colon cancer at discrete timepoints.

Background: Distinct sets of microbes contribute to colorectal cancer (CRC) initiation and progression. Some occur due to the evolving intestinal environment but may not contribute to disease. In contrast, others may play an important role at particular times during the tumorigenic process.

DNA sensor-associated type I interferon signaling is increased in ulcerative colitis and induces JAK-dependent inflammatory cell death in colonic organoids.

DNA sensor pathways can initiate inflammasome, cell death, and type I interferon (IFN) signaling in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), including type I interferonopathies. We investigated the involvement of these pathways in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC) by analyzing the expression of DNA sensor, inflammasome, and type I IFN biomarker genes in colonic mucosal biopsy tissue from control ( = 31), inactive UC ( = 31), active UC ( = 33), and a UC single-cell RNA-Seq dataset. The effects of type I IFN (IFN-β), IFN-γ, and TNF-α on gene expression, cytokine production, and cell death were investigated in human colonic organoids.

Crohn's Disease, Host-Microbiota Interactions, and Immunonutrition: Dietary Strategies Targeting Gut Microbiome as Novel Therapeutic Approaches.

Crohn's disease (CD) is a complex, disabling, idiopathic, progressive, and destructive disorder with an unknown etiology. The pathogenesis of CD is multifactorial and involves the interplay between host genetics, and environmental factors, resulting in an aberrant immune response leading to intestinal inflammation. Due to the high morbidity and long-term management of CD, the development of non-pharmacological approaches to mitigate the severity of CD has recently attracted great attention.

Identification of Gut Bacteria such as Lactobacillus johnsonii that Disseminate to Systemic Tissues of Wild Type and MyD88-/- Mice.

In healthy hosts the gut microbiota is restricted to gut tissues by several barriers some of which require MyD88-dependent innate immune sensor pathways. Nevertheless, some gut taxa have been reported to disseminate to systemic tissues. However, the extent to which this normally occurs during homeostasis in healthy organisms is still unknown.

The Influence of the Western Diet on Microbiota and Gastrointestinal Immunity.

Diet exerts a major influence upon host immune function and the gastrointestinal microbiota. Although components of the human diet (including carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) are essential sources of nutrition for the host, they also influence immune function directly through interaction with innate and cell-mediated immune regulatory mechanisms. Regulation of the microbiota community structure also provides a mechanism by which food components influence host immune regulatory processes.

TNF-α synergises with IFN-γ to induce caspase-8-JAK1/2-STAT1-dependent death of intestinal epithelial cells.

Rewiring of host cytokine networks is a key feature of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn's disease (CD). Th1-type cytokines-IFN-γ and TNF-α-occupy critical nodes within these networks and both are associated with disruption of gut epithelial barrier function. This may be due to their ability to synergistically trigger the death of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) via largely unknown mechanisms.

Regulation of CEACAM Family Members by IBD-Associated Triggers in Intestinal Epithelial Cells, Their Correlation to Inflammation and Relevance to IBD Pathogenesis.

Carcinoembryogenic antigen cellular adhesion molecules (CEACAMs) are intercellular adhesion molecules highly expressed in intestinal epithelial cells. CEACAM1, -3, -5, -6, -7 are altered in patients suffering from colon cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), but their role in the onset and pathogenesis of IBD is not well known. Herein, we aim to correlate CEACAM1, -3, -5, -6, -7 expression to the degree of inflammation in pediatric and adult IBD colon biopsies and to examine the regulation of CEACAMs on human intestinal epithelial cell lines (C2BBe1/HT29) by different IBD-associated triggers (cytokines, bacteria/metabolites, emulsifiers) and IBD-drugs (6-Mercaptopurine, Prednisolone, Tofacitinib).

Exopolysaccharide Blocks Dendritic Cell Maturation and Activation of CD4 T Cells.

Exopolysaccharide (EPS) is a bacterial extracellular carbohydrate moiety which has been associated with immunomodulatory activity and host protective effects of several gut commensal bacteria. are early colonizers of the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) but the role of EPS in mediating their effects on the host has not been investigated for many strains. Here, we characterized EPS production by a panel of human isolates and investigated the effect of EPS status on host immune responses using human and murine cell culture-based assay systems.

Protein quality and quantity influence the effect of dietary fat on weight gain and tissue partitioning via host-microbiota changes.

We investigated how protein quantity (10%-30%) and quality (casein and whey) interact with dietary fat (20%-55%) to affect metabolic health in adult mice. Although dietary fat was the main driver of body weight gain and individual tissue weight, high (30%) casein intake accentuated and high whey intake reduced the negative metabolic aspects of high fat. Jejunum and liver transcriptomics revealed increased intestinal permeability, low-grade inflammation, altered lipid metabolism, and liver dysfunction in casein-fed but not whey-fed animals.

Macrophage cytokine responses to commensal Gram-positive Lactobacillus salivarius strains are TLR2-independent and Myd88-dependent.

The mechanisms through which cells of the host innate immune system distinguish commensal bacteria from pathogens are currently unclear. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a class of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) expressed by host cells which recognize microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) common to both commensal and pathogenic bacteria. Of the different TLRs, TLR2/6 recognize bacterial lipopeptides and trigger cytokines responses, especially to Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens.

Colonic microbiota is associated with inflammation and host epigenomic alterations in inflammatory bowel disease.

Studies of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been inconclusive in relating microbiota with distribution of inflammation. We report microbiota, host transcriptomics, epigenomics and genetics from matched inflamed and non-inflamed colonic mucosa [50 Crohn's disease (CD); 80 ulcerative colitis (UC); 31 controls]. Changes in community-wide and within-patient microbiota are linked with inflammation, but we find no evidence for a distinct microbial diagnostic signature, probably due to heterogeneous host-microbe interactions, and show only marginal microbiota associations with habitual diet.

Human BCL-G regulates secretion of inflammatory chemokines but is dispensable for induction of apoptosis by IFN-γ and TNF-α in intestinal epithelial cells.

Proteins of the BCL-2 family are evolutionarily conserved modulators of apoptosis that function as sensors of cellular integrity. Over the past three decades multiple BCL-2 family members have been identified, many of which are now fully incorporated into regulatory networks governing the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. For some, however, an exact role in cell death signalling remains unclear.

Common pattern of distribution for Mesoamerican Triatoma dimidiata suggest geological and ecological association.

The phylogeny of the Triatoma dimidiata complex has been widely assessed with different genetic and morphological data, which has allowed to reach the consensus that the complex consists of at least three taxonomic units. However, these taxonomic units seem to have a distribution related to geography throughout Mesoamerica, with different groupings depending on the source of information used. In the present study, we aimed to determine if there is a common biogeographical, genetic and phenetic distribution pattern among the T.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEACAM) family members and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), encompassing Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a chronic intestinal inflammatory condition with increasing incidence worldwide and whose pathogenesis remains largely unknown. The collected evidence indicates that genetic, environmental and microbial factors and a dysregulated immune response are responsible for the disease. IBD has an early onset and long term sufferers present a higher risk of developing colitis associated cancer (CAC).

Emerging applications of upconverting nanoparticles in intestinal infection and colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in colon or rectum. Recent findings have acknowledged the role of bacterial infection and chronic inflammation in colorectal cancer initiation and progression. In order to detect and treat precancerous lesions, new tools are required, which may help to prevent or identify colorectal cancer at an early stage.