Publications by authors named "Natsuko O Shinozaki"
Differences in the human gut microbiota with varying depressive symptom severity scores.
Biosci Microbiota Food Health
June 2024
Article Synopsis
- Depression rates have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting interest in the gut microbiome's role in mental health through the gut-brain axis.
- A study in Japan analyzed the gut microbiome of participants with varying depression screening scores, finding no major differences in overall composition but noting potential changes in specific bacterial families like Bifidobacteriaceae and Streptococcaceae.
- While the research contributes to understanding the gut-mind connection and the possibility of microbiome-based depression treatments, limitations include insufficient medical history of participants and a need for larger studies.
Gut microbial stability in older Japanese populations: insights from the Mykinso cohort.
Biosci Microbiota Food Health
October 2023
Gut microbiota imbalance plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various diseases. Here, we determined microbe-microbe interactions and gut microbiome stability in a Japanese population with varying body mass indices (BMIs) and enterotypes. Using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, we analyzed gut microbial data from fecal samples obtained from 3,365 older Japanese individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpigenetic profile of Japanese supercentenarians: a cross-sectional study.
Lancet Healthy Longev
February 2023
Background: Centenarians and supercentenarians with exceptional longevity are excellent models for research towards improvements of healthy life expectancy. Extensive research regarding the maintenance and reduction of epigenetic age has provided insights into increasing healthy longevity. To this end, we explored the epigenetic signatures reflecting hallmarks of exceptional healthy longevity, including avoidance of age-related diseases and cognitive functional decline.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDysbiosis of the gut microbiota has been reported to increase early complications after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). However, it remains unclear whether gut microbial alterations persist during late complications, such as chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) or secondary cancers. Here, we analysed the gut microbiota of 59 patients who survived for 1-21.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study compared two 16S rRNA gene primer sets (V1-V2 and V3-V4) in analyzing the gut microbiota of 192 Japanese volunteers using next-generation sequencing technology.
- Results showed that the V3-V4 primer set (V34) detected more unclassified sequences and higher levels of certain phyla, specifically Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia, compared to the V1-V2 set (V12).
- The research concluded that the V1-V2 primer set provides a more accurate representation of gut bacteria abundance, especially for specific types like Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia, making it preferable for analyzing the gut microbiota in the Japanese population.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to establish reference ranges for gut microbial indices using data from a large cohort of 5,843 healthy Japanese individuals to fill the gap in research on Japanese gut microbiomes.
- Researchers analyzed stool samples and lifestyle surveys to assess the diversity and distribution of gut microbes, finding significant correlations with factors like age, sex, and gastrointestinal health.
- The findings revealed high beta-diversity in gut microbiota among the cohort, suggesting no single 'typical' gut type, and emphasize the need for further studies to validate these reference values against clinical disease cases.
Recent studies have shown that environmental DNA is found almost everywhere. Flower petal surfaces are an attractive tissue to use for investigation of the dispersal of environmental DNA in nature as they are isolated from the external environment until the bud opens and only then can the petal surface accumulate environmental DNA. Here, we performed a crowdsourced experiment, the "Ohanami Project", to obtain environmental DNA samples from petal surfaces of Cerasus × yedoensis 'Somei-yoshino' across the Japanese archipelago during spring 2015.
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