The protective role of commensal gut microbes and their metabolites against bacterial pathogens.

Multidrug-resistant microorganisms have become a major public health concern around the world. The gut microbiome is a gold mine for bioactive compounds that protect the human body from pathogens. We used a multi-omics approach that integrated whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 74 commensal gut microbiome isolates with metabolome analysis to discover their metabolic interaction with and other antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

Low Concentration of Fecal Valeric Acid at 1 Year of Age Is Linked with Eczema and Food Allergy at 13 Years of Age: Findings from a Swedish Birth Cohort.

Background: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are abundant bacterial metabolites in the gut, with immunomodulatory properties. Hence, they may influence allergy development. Previous studies have linked fecal SCFA pattern during infancy with allergy.

Therapeutic potential of an anaerobic cultured human intestinal microbiota, ACHIM, for treatment of IBS.

By administering an anaerobic cultivated human intestinal microbiota (ACHIM) via upper gastrointestinal route using endoscopy we aimed to rectify intestinal dysbiosis and simultaneously achieve a treatment response in IBS patients. The study population fulfilled the Rome III IBS criteria and comprised 50 patients. During 10 days, patients recorded the irritable bowel syndrome symptom severity scale (IBS-SSS) along with the Bristol stool scale and number of stools/day.

Bacteriophages Synergize with the Gut Microbial Community To Combat .

infection is one of the main causes of food-borne diarrheal diseases worldwide. Although most infections can be cleared without treatment, some cause serious illnesses that require antibiotic treatment. In view of the growing emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains, novel treatments are increasingly required.

Self-delivered misinformation - Merging the choice blindness and misinformation effect paradigms.

Choice blindness is the failure to detect a discrepancy between a choice and its outcome. The misinformation effect occurs when the recollection of an event changes because new, misleading information about the event is received. The purpose of this study was to merge the choice blindness and misinformation effect paradigms, and thus examine whether choice blindness can be created for individuals' recollections of a witnessed event, and whether this will affect their later recollections of the event.

From IBS to DBS: The Dysbiotic Bowel Syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain and altered bowel habits in the absence of organic disease. We present 2 cases where diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome occurred in association with earlier intestinal infection or antibiotic treatment. Both were successfully treated with instillation of an anaerobic cultivated human intestinal microbiota.

[Underlying dysbiosis may be the cause of some forms of IBS. Patients were free of symptoms after the administration of microbiota].

Two cases of post-infectious IBS were successfully treated with transplantation of an anaerobic cultivated human intestinal microbiota. This suggests that a dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota could be the culprit at least in some cases of IBS. Resetting the gut microbiota might be a possible solution for these patients that otherwise may face a life-long reduction in quality of life.

A comparison of maternal attitudes to breastfeeding in public and the association with breastfeeding duration in four European countries: results of a cohort study.

Background: There is wide variation in the duration of breastfeeding across Europe which may in part be due to the between-country differences in mothers' and societal attitudes towards breastfeeding in public. The objective of this study was to quantify and compare the maternal attitudes to, and practice of, breastfeeding in public in four European centers and investigate the association with duration of breastfeeding.

Methods: Participants (n = 389) were mothers recruited from maternity wards of hospitals in Glasgow (Scotland), Stockholm (Sweden), Granada (Spain), and Reggio-Emilia (Italy).

The effects of oats on the function of gut microflora in children with coeliac disease.

Background: Faecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are produced by the gut microflora. We have previously reported high faecal SCFA levels in children with coeliac disease (CD), indicating alteration in gut microfloral metabolism. Data accumulated over recent decades by us and others suggest that wheat-free oats can safely be included in a gluten-free diet (GFD).

Faecal short-chain fatty acid pattern in childhood coeliac disease is normalised after more than one year's gluten-free diet.

Objective: Recent work indicates that the gut microflora is altered in patients with coeliac disease (CD). Faecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are produced by the gut microflora. We have previously reported a high SCFA output in children with symptomatic and asymptomatic CD at presentation, as well as in CD children on a gluten-free diet (GFD) for less than 1 year, indicating deviant gut microfloral function.

Increase of faecal tryptic activity relates to changes in the intestinal microbiome: analysis of Crohn's disease with a multidisciplinary platform.

Objective: To investigate-by molecular, classical and functional methods-the microbiota in biopsies and faeces from patients with active Crohn's disease (CD) and controls.

Design: The microbiota in biopsies was investigated utilizing a novel molecular method and classical cultivation technology. Faecal samples were investigated by classical technology and four functional methods, reflecting alterations in short chain fatty acids pattern, conversion of cholesterol and bilirubin and inactivation of trypsin.

Effect of exclusive enteral nutrition on gut microflora function in children with Crohn's disease.

Objective: Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) is a first-line treatment in children with active Crohn's disease (CD) but is seldom used in adults with active disease. The mode of action of EEN in suppressing mucosal inflammation is not fully understood, but modulation of intestinal microflora activity is one possible explanation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 6-week EEN in children with active CD, with special reference to intestinal microflora function.

Fecal transplant against relapsing Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in 32 patients.

Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) with frequent watery stools, sometimes with painful bowel movements, fever and sickness, is probably the major known cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colitis, most probably depending on a disruption of the normal intestinal balance in the microbiome. In this study, we have inoculated a mixture of fecal microbes--as an enema--originating from a healthy Scandinavian middle-aged donor, regularly re-cultivated under strict anaerobic conditions for more than 10 years, to 32 patients. Twenty-two patients (69%) were durably cured.

Modulation of Mucosal Immune Response, Tolerance, and Proliferation in Mice Colonized by the Mucin-Degrader Akkermansia muciniphila.

Epithelial cells of the mammalian intestine are covered with a mucus layer that prevents direct contact with intestinal microbes but also constitutes a substrate for mucus-degrading bacteria. To study the effect of mucus degradation on the host response, germ-free mice were colonized with Akkermansia muciniphila. This anaerobic bacterium belonging to the Verrucomicrobia is specialized in the degradation of mucin, the glycoprotein present in mucus, and found in high numbers in the intestinal tract of human and other mammalian species.

How normal is a "normal" flora in animal or man?

When investigating different disturbances of the normal intestinal flora causing disorders and/or diseases in man and animal, these studies include comparisons of results with control materials, i.e., materials from conventional laboratory animals or healthy human beings.

Determinants of the human infant intestinal microbiota after the introduction of first complementary foods in infant samples from five European centres.

Although it is well established that early infant feeding has a major influence on the establishment of the gut microbiota, very little is understood about how the introduction of first solid food influences the colonization process. This study aimed to determine the impact of weaning on the faecal microbiota composition of infants from five European countries (Sweden, Scotland, Germany, Italy and Spain) which have different lifestyle characteristics and infant feeding practices. Faecal samples were collected from 605 infants approximately 4 weeks after the introduction of first solid foods and the results were compared with the same infants before weaning (6 weeks of age) to investigate the association with determining factors such as geographical origin, mode of delivery, previous feeding method and age of weaning.