The fecal and mucosal microbiome in acute appendicitis patients: an observational study.

Aim: We aimed to study the mucosal microbiota of the appendix in a prospective appendicitis cohort and to compare the fecal microbiota of patients and controls. We hypothesized that the microbiota may be associated with susceptibility to appendicitis.

Patients & Methods: The fecal microbiota of 99 patients and 106 controls were characterized using 16S-23S intergenic spacer profiling.

Comparative analysis of four methods to extract DNA from paraffin-embedded tissues: effect on downstream molecular applications.

Background: A large portion of tissues stored worldwide for diagnostic purposes is formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE). These FFPE-archived tissues are an extremely valuable source for retrospective (genetic) studies. These include mutation screening in cancer-critical genes as well as pathogen detection.