Roseburia intestinalis-derived butyrate alleviates neuropathic pain.

Approximately 20% of patients with shingles develop postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). We investigated the role of gut microbiota in shingle- and PHN-related pain. Patients with shingles or PHN exhibited significant alterations in their gut microbiota with microbial markers predicting PHN development among patients with shingles.

Sodium butyrate restored TRESK current controlling neuronal hyperexcitability in a mouse model of oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathic pain.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and its related pain are common challenges for patients receiving oxaliplatin chemotherapy. Oxaliplatin accumulation in dorsal root ganglion (DRGs) is known to impair gene transcription by epigenetic dysregulation. We hypothesized that sodium butyrate, a pro-resolution short-chain fatty acid, inhibited histone acetylation in DRGs and abolished K channel dysregulation-induced neuronal hyperexcitability after oxaliplatin treatment.

Blood microbial signatures associated with mortality in patients with sepsis: A pilot study.

Sepsis is a life-threatening illness caused by the dysregulated host response to infection. Nevertheless, our current knowledge of the microbial landscape in the blood of septic patients is still limited. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a sensitive method to quantitatively characterize microbiomes at various sites of the human body.

LOX-1 acts as an N-methyladenosine-regulated receptor for Helicobacter pylori by binding to the bacterial catalase.

The role of N-methyladenosine (mA) modification of host mRNA during bacterial infection is unclear. Here, we show that Helicobacter pylori infection upregulates host mA methylases and increases mA levels in gastric epithelial cells. Reducing mA methylase activity via hemizygotic deletion of methylase-encoding gene Mettl3 in mice, or via small interfering RNAs targeting mA methylases, enhances H.

Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 identification methods through surveillance of companion animals in SARS-CoV-2-positive homes in North Carolina, March to December 2020.

We collected oral and/or rectal swabs and serum from dogs and cats living in homes with SARS-CoV-2-PCR-positive persons for SARS-CoV-2 PCR and serology testing. Pre-COVID-19 serum samples from dogs and cats were used as negative controls, and samples were tested in duplicate at different timepoints. Raw ELISA results scrutinized relative to known negative samples suggested that cut-offs for IgG seropositivity may require adjustment relative to previously proposed values, while proposed cut-offs for IgM require more extensive validation.