Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis Facilitates Susceptibility to Bloodstream Infection.

To study the role of intestinal flora in the development of bloodstream infections (BSIs). 42 patients and 19 healthy controls (HCs) were screened into the study and their intestinal flora was measured by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The bacterial diversity was significantly lower in the BSI group compared with that in the HCs (P < 0.

Exploring the dynamics of gut microbiota, antibiotic resistance, and chemotherapy impact in acute leukemia patients: A comprehensive metagenomic analysis.

Leukemia poses significant challenges to its treatment, and understanding its complex pathogenesis is crucial. This study used metagenomic sequencing to investigate the interplay between chemotherapy, gut microbiota, and antibiotic resistance in patients with acute leukemia (AL). Pre- and post-chemotherapy stool samples from patients revealed alterations in microbial richness, taxa, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs).

Exploring the gut microbiota landscape in cow milk protein allergy: Clinical insights and diagnostic implications in pediatric patients.

Cow milk protein allergy (CMPA) is a significant health concern characterized by adverse immune reactions to cow milk proteins. Biomarkers for the accurate diagnosis and prognosis of CMPA are lacking. This study analyzed the clinical features of CMPA, and 16S RNA sequencing was used to investigate potential biomarkers through fecal microbiota profiling.

The influence of male HBV infection on sperm quality, embryonic development, and assisted reproductive outcomes.

Study Question: What is the impact of male hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on sperm quality, embryonic development, and assisted reproductive outcomes?

Summary Answer: Male HBV infection did not affect assisted reproductive outcomes, but HBV is capable of impairing human sperm and embryo formation in the early stages following fertilization.

What Is Known Already: HBV is found in germ cells and early embryos of patients with HBV. HBV may impair human sperm function via increasing reactive oxygen species.

Metagenomic evidence for antibiotics-driven co-evolution of microbial community, resistome and mobilome in hospital sewage.

Overconsumption of antibiotics is an immediate cause for the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), though its environmental impact remains inadequately clarified. There is an urgent need to dissect the complex links underpinning the dynamic co-evolution of ARB and their resistome and mobilome in hospital sewage. Metagenomic and bioinformatic methods were employed to analyze the microbial community, resistome and mobilome in hospital sewage, in relation to data on clinical antibiotic use collected from a tertiary-care hospital.

Machine Learning Techniques for Antimicrobial Resistance Prediction of from Whole Genome Sequence Data.

Aim: Due to the growing availability of genomic datasets, machine learning models have shown impressive diagnostic potential in identifying emerging and reemerging pathogens. This study aims to use machine learning techniques to develop and compare a model for predicting bacterial resistance to a panel of 12 classes of antibiotics using whole genome sequence (WGS) data of Pseudomonas .

Method: A machine learning technique called Random Forest (RF) and BioWeka was used for classification accuracy assessment and logistic regression (LR) for statistical analysis.

Expression of CD22 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Prognostic Biomarker and Potential Target for CAR Therapy.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 15-20% of all breast cancer cases. Due to the lack of expression of well-known molecular targets [estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)], there is a need for more alternative treatment approaches in TNBC. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell-based immunotherapy treatment is one of the latest treatment technologies with outstanding therapeutic advances in the past decade, especially in the treatment of hematologic malignancies, but the therapeutic effects of CAR-T cells against solid tumors have not yet shown significant clinical benefits.

Photodynamic therapy treats acne by altering the composition of the skin microbiota.

Background: Acne is the eighth-most prevalent inflammatory skin disease with no optimal treatment. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective treatment for severe acne.

Aims: The effect of PDT on the composition and diversity of skin microflora in severe acne patients was studied.

Direct Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells to 3D Functional Hepatocyte-like Cells in Alginate Microencapsulation Sphere.

Background: The lack of a stable source of hepatocytes is one of major limitations in hepatocyte transplantation and clinical applications of a bioartificial liver. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) with a high degree of self-renewal and totipotency are a potentially limitless source of a variety of cell lineages, including hepatocytes. Many techniques have been developed for effective differentiation of hESCs into functional hepatocyte-like cells.

Crude Polysaccharides Attenuates Steatosis and Suppresses Inflammation in Diet-Induced NAFLD Mice.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disorder characterized by an enhanced accumulation of lipids, which affects around 40% of the world's population. The fungus possesses immunomodulatory activity and other beneficial properties that may alleviate steatosis through a different mechanism. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect crude polysaccharides (TFCP) on inflammatory and lipid metabolism gene expression, oxidative stress, and lipid profile.

Incidence and molecular characterization of ESBL-producing and colistin-resistant Escherichia coli isolates recovered from healthy food-producing animals in Pakistan.

Objectives: To investigate the occurrence and molecular features of ESBL-producing and colistin-resistant Escherichia coli isolates recovered from healthy food-producing animals in Pakistan.

Methods: A total of 153 E. coli isolates were recovered from 250 faecal samples collected from livestock and poultry.

The Role of Fecal and as Early Diagnostic Markers of Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Accurate analysis of intestinal microbiota will facilitate establishment of an evaluating system for assessing colorectal cancer (CRC) risk and prognosis. This study evaluates the potential role of () and with a gene () in early CRC diagnosis.

Methods: We recruited 139 patients, including CRC ( = 60), colorectal adenomatous polyposis (CAP) ( = 37), and healthy individuals ( = 42) based on their colonoscopy examinations.

Microbiomes and Resistomes in Biopsy Tissue and Intestinal Lavage Fluid of Colorectal Cancer.

The gut microbiome plays a crucial role in colorectal cancer (CRC) tumorigenesis, but compositions of microorganisms have been inconsistent in previous studies due to the different types of specimens. We investigated the microbiomes and resistomes of CRC patients with colonic biopsy tissue and intestinal lavage fluid (IVF). Paired samples (biopsy tissue and IVF) were collected from 20 patients with CRC, and their gut microbiomes and resistomes were measured by shotgun metagenomics.

Antimicrobial resistance bacteria and genes detected in hospital sewage provide valuable information in predicting clinical antimicrobial resistance.

Extensive use of antibiotics is significantly associated with development of antibiotic-resistant (AR) bacteria. However, their causal relationships have not been adequately investigated, especially in human population and hospitals. Our aims were to understand clinical AR through revealing co-occurrence patterns between antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes (ARB and ARGs), and their association with antibiotic use, and to consider impact of ARB and ARGs on environmental and human health.

Hepatitis B virus surface protein induces sperm dysfunction through the activation of a Bcl2/Bax signaling cascade triggering AIF/Endo G-mediated apoptosis.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was found to exist in semen and male germ cells of patients with chronic HBV infection. Our previous studies demonstrated that HBV surface protein (HBs) could induce sperm dysfunction by activating a calcium signaling cascade and triggering caspase-dependent apoptosis. However, the relationship between sperm dysfunction caused by HBs and caspase-independent apoptosis has not been investigated.

Hepatitis B virus surface protein induces oxidative stress by increasing peroxides and inhibiting antioxidant defences in human spermatozoa.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection may affect sperm motility in patients with HBV. HBV surface protein (HBs) decreases mitochondrial membrane potential, impairs motility and induces apoptotic-like changes in human spermatozoa. However, little is known about how human spermatozoa respond to reactive oxygen species (ROS; mainly peroxides) induced by HBs.

Defined host factors support HBV infection in non-hepatic 293T cells.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a human hepatotropic virus. However, HBV infection also occurs at extrahepatic sites, but the relevant host factors required for HBV infection in non-hepatic cells are only partially understood. In this article, a non-hepatic cell culture model is constructed by exogenous expression of four host genes (NTCP, HNF4α, RXRα and PPARα) in human non-hepatic 293T cells.

The abundance and mineral-weathering effectiveness of Bacillus strains in the altered rocks and the soil.

In this study, we collected different levels of altered rocks of a rocky mountain and the adjacent soil and characterized the abundance and weathering effectiveness of Bacillus strains. Based on qPCR and culture-dependent approaches, the gene copies or the numbers of Bacillus strains were significantly higher in the soil than in the altered rocks, while the ratio of the gene copies or the numbers of Bacillus strains to those of total bacteria was higher in the less altered rock, followed by the more altered rock and the soil. The relative abundance of the highly active Al-solubilizing Bacillus strains was higher in the more altered rock, followed by the less altered rock and the soil.

Transcription and regulation of hepatitis B virus genes in host sperm cells.

To investigate whether transcription of hepatitis B virus (HBV) gene occurs in human sperm, total RNA was extracted from sperm of patients with chronic HBV infection (test-1), from donor sperm transfected with a plasmid containing the full-length HBV genome (test-2), and from nontransfected donor sperm (control), used as the template for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Positive bands for HBV DNA were observed in the test groups but not in the control. Next, to identify the role of host genes in regulating viral gene transcription in sperm, total RNA was extracted from 2-cell embryos derived from hamster oocytes fertilized in vitro by HBV-transfected (test) or nontransfected (control) human sperm and successively subjected to SMART-PCR, suppression subtractive hybridization, T/A cloning, bacterial amplification, microarray hybridization, sequencing and the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) search to isolate differentially expressed genes.

The Clinical Significance of FilmArray Respiratory Panel in Diagnosing Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

Aim: FilmArray Respiratory Panel (FilmArray RP) test is an emerging diagnostic method in fast detecting multiple respiratory pathogens; the methodology and clinical significance of FilmArray RP in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) diagnosis were evaluated in this study.

Methods: Specimens from 74 patients with CAP were analyzed and compared using FilmArray RP, traditional multiple PCR assay, bacterial (or fungal) culture, and serological detection.

Results: FilmArray RP and multiplex PCR showed 100% coincidence rate in detecting coronaviruses 229E, OC43, HKU1, and NL63, human metapneumovirus, influenza A and B, and parainfluenza viruses (PIV1, PIV2, and PIV4).

Host genes regulate transcription of sperm-introduced hepatitis B virus genes in embryo.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can invade the male germline, and sperm-introduced HBV genes could be transcribed in embryo. This study was to explore whether viral gene transcription is regulated by host genes. Embryos were produced by in vitro fertilization of hamster oocytes with human sperm containing the HBV genome.

CpG methylation participates in regulation of hepatitis B virus gene expression in host sperm and sperm-derived embryos.

Aim: This study was undertaken to investigate relationship between hepatitis B virus (HBV) CpG methylation and HBV gene transcription in sperm and sperm-derived embryos.

Methods: HBV-infected patient sperm and HBV plasmid-transfected donor sperm were subjected to interspecific in vitro fertilization, methylation-specific PCR, bisulfite sequencing PCR, reverse transcription PCR and real-time quantitative PCR.

Results: Positive methylation bands for CpG islands II and III in the HBV genome were observed in patient sperm but not in controls, and methylation percentages of CpG sites varied among different patient sperm samples.

Effects of Hepatitis C Virus Infection on Human Sperm Chromosomes.

Background: To determine the degree of chromosomal aberrations in the sperm of men with hepatitis C.

Methods: 36 subjects (20 in the healthy control group and 16 in the HCV infection group [genotype 1b]) were recruited. The cause of viral transmission was unknown in all patients.

Research on the Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis C Gene from Father-to-child via Human Sperm.

Background: The aim was to develop a better experimental model which could facilitate further studies assessing the vertical HCV gene transmission via human spermatozoa, and verify the possibility of father-to-child transmission of the HCV gene.

Methods: The recombinant plasmid pIRES2-EGFP-HCV C was constructed. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was performed to detect the integration of the HCV C gene in human sperm genome and in zygote's pronucleus.