Clinical Features and Outcomes of Pediatric and Adult Patients Hospitalized for Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Comparison Across Age Strata.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to cause hospitalizations and severe disease in children and adults.

Methods: This study compared the risk factors, symptoms, and outcomes of children and adults hospitalized for COVID-19 from March 2020 to May 2023 across age strata at 5 US sites participating in the Predicting Viral-Associated Inflammatory Disease Severity in Children with Laboratory Diagnostics and Artificial Intelligence consortium. Eligible patients had an upper respiratory swab that tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by nucleic acid amplification.

The upper airway microbiome in Hispanic children with cystic fibrosis.

Background: Hispanic people with cystic fibrosis (CF) have decreased life expectancy and earlier acquisition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa compared to non-Hispanic white individuals with CF. Racial and ethnic differences in the airway microbiome of CF may contribute to known health disparity, but have not been studied. The objective was to describe differences in the upper airway microbial community in Hispanic and non-Hispanic white children with CF.

Neonatal antibiotics have long term sex-dependent effects on the enteric nervous system.

Infants and young children receive the highest exposures to antibiotics globally. Although there is building evidence that early life exposure to antibiotics increases susceptibility to various diseases including gut disorders later in life, the lasting impact of early life antibiotics on the physiology of the gut and its enteric nervous system (ENS) remains unclear. We treated neonatal mice with the antibiotic vancomycin during their first 10 postnatal days, then examined potential lasting effects of the antibiotic treatment on their colons during young adulthood (6 weeks old).

Insights into Microbiome and Metabolic Signatures of Children Undergoing Peanut Oral Immunotherapy.

Background: Peanut oral immunotherapy has emerged as a novel, active management approach for peanut-allergic sufferers, but limited data exist currently on the role of the microbiome in successful desensitization.

Objective: We examined the oral and gut microbiome in a cohort of 17 children undergoing peanut oral immunotherapy with the aim to identify the microbiome signatures associated with successful desensitization. We also set out to characterize their fecal metabolic profiles after successful therapy.

Intestinal Predictors of Whole Blood Serotonin Levels in Children With or Without Autism.

Hyperserotonemia, or elevated levels of whole blood serotonin (WB5-HT), was the first biomarker linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite numerous studies investigating the etiology of hyperserotonemia, results have been inconsistent. Recent findings suggest a relationship between the immune system and hyperserotonemia.

Probiotic VSL#3 Treatment Reduces Colonic Permeability and Abdominal Pain Symptoms in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Little is known regarding the clinical impact of treatment and treatment duration of probiotic VSL#3 on gut and microbiome function in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). As part of a safety trial, we assessed the effect of VSL#3 treatment duration on abdominal pain, stooling, gut permeability, microbiome composition and function. Adults with IBS were randomized into an open label trial to receive the probiotic VSL#3 for 4 or 8 weeks.

Peppermint oil effects on the gut microbiome in children with functional abdominal pain.

Peppermint oil (PMO) is effective in the treatment of functional abdominal pain disorders, but its mechanism of action is unclear. Evidence suggests PMO has microbicidal activity. We investigated the effect of three different doses of PMO on gut microbiome composition.

Comparison of Whole Genome Sequencing and Repetitive Element PCR for Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strain Typing.

Hospital-acquired infections pose significant costly global challenges to patient care. Rapid and sensitive methods to identify potential outbreaks are integral to infection control measures. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS)-based bacterial strain typing provides higher discriminatory power over standard nucleotide banding pattern-based methods such as repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR).

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Commonly Failed in Children With Co-Morbidities.

Objectives: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is arguably the most effective treatment for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI). Clinical reports on pediatric FMT have not systematically evaluated microbiome restoration in patients with co-morbidities. Here, we determined whether FMT recipient age and underlying co-morbidity influenced clinical outcomes and microbiome restoration when treated from shared fecal donor sources.

Gut microbiome in adolescent depression.

Objectives: To examine the association of major depressive disorder (MDD) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use with gut microbiome in older adolescents and younger adults.

Methods: Fifteen to 20-year-old participants within a month of starting an SSRI and unmedicated controls were enrolled in a longitudinal study. They underwent a diagnostic evaluation comprising self-completed and rater-administered questionnaires and clinical interview.

Assessment of the gut bacterial microbiome and metabolome of girls and women with Rett Syndrome.

Background: Gastrointestinal problems affect the health and quality of life of individuals with Rett syndrome (RTT) and pose a medical hardship for their caregivers. We hypothesized that the variability in the RTT phenotype contributes to the dysbiosis of the gut microbiome and metabolome in RTT, predisposing these individuals to gastrointestinal dysfunction.

Objectives: We characterized the gut bacterial microbiome and metabolome in girls and young women with RTT (n = 44) and unaffected controls (n = 21), and examined the relation between the composition of the microbiome and variations in the RTT phenotype.

A Comprehensive Self-Management Program With Diet Education Does Not Alter Microbiome Characteristics in Women With Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Background And Purpose: Changes in diet and lifestyle factors are frequently recommended for persons with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). It is unknown whether these recommendations alter the gut microbiome and/or whether baseline microbiome predicts improvement in symptoms and quality of life following treatment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore if baseline gut microbiome composition predicted response to a Comprehensive Self-Management (CSM) intervention and if the intervention resulted in a different gut microbiome composition compared to usual care.

Fusobacteriumnucleatum Adheres to Clostridioides difficile via the RadD Adhesin to Enhance Biofilm Formation in Intestinal Mucus.

Background & Aims: Although Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is known to involve the disruption of the gut microbiota, little is understood regarding how mucus-associated microbes interact with C difficile. We hypothesized that select mucus-associated bacteria would promote C difficile colonization and biofilm formation.

Methods: To create a model of the human intestinal mucus layer and gut microbiota, we used bioreactors inoculated with healthy human feces, treated with clindamycin and infected with C difficile with the addition of human MUC2-coated coverslips.

Mucin-Degrading Microbes Release Monosaccharides That Chemoattract and Facilitate Colonization of the Human Intestinal Mucus Layer.

It is widely accepted that the pathogen exploits an intestinal environment with an altered microbiota, but the details of these microbe-microbe interactions are unclear. Adherence and colonization of mucus has been demonstrated for several enteric pathogens and it is possible that mucin-associated microbes may be working in concert with . We showed that ribotype-027 adheres to MUC2 glycans and using fecal bioreactors, we identified that associates with several mucin-degrading microbes.

Bile Acids and Microbiome Among Individuals With Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Healthy Volunteers.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder. High bile acid (BA) profiles have been associated with abdominal pain symptoms, mucosal inflammation, and diarrhea in a subgroup of those with IBS. The purpose of this study was to compare: 1) fecal primary and secondary BAs in women with and without IBS; and 2) symptoms, gut microbiome, and diet between women with high and normal BAs (i.

The Nasopharyngeal and Gut Microbiota in Children in a Pediatric Otolaryngology Practice.

Background: The human microbiome evolves rapidly in early life with contributions from various factors such as diet, delivery mode, medical history, antibiotics exposure, genetics, immunomodulators and the environment. A high use of antibiotics in pediatric outpatient settings has been well documented, and improvement in antibiotic selection is required to reduce the risks of antibiotic resistance and disruption of the microbiome.

Methods: We performed an exploratory study using 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing to characterize the gut and nasopharyngeal microbiome of children (n = 50) age 1-6 years of age in a pediatric otolaryngology practice.

Antibiotic exposure postweaning disrupts the neurochemistry and function of enteric neurons mediating colonic motor activity.

The period during and immediately after weaning is an important developmental window when marked shifts in gut microbiota can regulate the maturation of the enteric nervous system (ENS). Because microbiota-derived signals that modulate ENS development are poorly understood, we examined the physiological impact of the broad spectrum of antibiotic, vancomycin-administered postweaning on colonic motility, neurochemistry of enteric neurons, and neuronal excitability. The functional impact of vancomycin on enteric neurons was investigated by Ca imaging in reporter mice to characterize alterations in the submucosal and the myenteric plexus, which contains the neuronal circuitry controlling gut motility.

Bifidobacteria shape host neural circuits during postnatal development by promoting synapse formation and microglial function.

We hypothesized that early-life gut microbiota support the functional organization of neural circuitry in the brain via regulation of synaptic gene expression and modulation of microglial functionality. Germ-free mice were colonized as neonates with either a simplified human infant microbiota consortium consisting of four Bifidobacterium species, or with a complex, conventional murine microbiota. We examined the cerebellum, cortex, and hippocampus of both groups of colonized mice in addition to germ-free control mice.

New Host-Directed Therapeutics for the Treatment of Clostridioides difficile Infection.

Frequent and excessive use of antibiotics primes patients to infection (CDI), which leads to fatal pseudomembranous colitis, with limited treatment options. In earlier reports, we used a drug repurposing strategy and identified amoxapine (an antidepressant), doxapram (a breathing stimulant), and trifluoperazine (an antipsychotic), which provided significant protection to mice against lethal infections with several pathogens, including However, the mechanisms of action of these drugs were not known. Here, we provide evidence that all three drugs offered protection against experimental CDI by reducing bacterial burden and toxin levels, although the drugs were neither bacteriostatic nor bactericidal in nature and had minimal impact on the composition of the microbiota.

Autism Spectrum Disorder as a Brain-Gut-Microbiome Axis Disorder.

While there are numerous medical comorbidities associated with ASD, gastrointestinal (GI) issues have a significant impact on quality of life for these individuals. Recent findings continue to support the relationship between the gut microbiome and both GI symptoms and behavior, but the heterogeneity within the autism spectrum requires in-depth clinical characterization of these clinical cohorts. Large, diverse, well-controlled studies in this area of research are still needed.

Microbiome signatures in neonatal central line associated bloodstream infections.

Neonates are at high risk for central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). Biofilm formation is universal on indwelling catheters but why some biofilms seed the bloodstream to cause CLABSI is not clearly understood. With the objective to test the hypothesis that catheter biofilm microbiome in neonates with CLABSI differs than those without infection, we prospectively enrolled neonates (n = 30) with infected and uninfected indwelling central catheters.