The prebiotic landscape: history, health and physiological benefits, and regulatory challenges - an IPA perspective part 1.

Prebiotics are becoming increasingly recognized by consumers, health care professionals and regulators as important contributors to health. Nonetheless, the development, progress, and adoption of prebiotics is hindered by loose terminology, various misconceptions about sources and types of compounds that may be classified as prebiotics, and the lack of consensus on a definition that satisfies regulators. Evolving knowledge of the microbiome and its effects on host health has generated opportunities for modulation of the microbiota that can support host health.

Changes in the phenotypic susceptibility of isolates to macrolide antimicrobials during the early feeding period following metaphylactic tulathromycin use in western Canadian feedlot calves.

Cattle at high-risk for bovine respiratory disease on entry to western Canadian feedlots are often treated metaphylactically with antimicrobials from the macrolide class. High levels of resistance to macrolides have been reported in isolates from clinical samples, but it is less clear whether this trend extends to the broader feedlot population. The objective was to describe near-term [< 40 days on feed (DOF)] changes in the recovery and susceptibility of isolates from healthy feedlot calves after metaphylactic exposure to tulathromycin.

Eltrombopag in pediatric chronic and refractory ITP: data from a retrospective multicenter study from Lebanon.

About 20% to 30% of pediatric patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) develop chronic or refractory disease lasting 12 months or more that can be challenging to treat. Eltrombopag is being used after failure of previous lines of therapy with good results at tertiary healthcare centers in Lebanon, a developing country with available multidisciplinary treatment modalities. This is a retrospective multicenter observational study that analyzed data on pediatric patients with chronic or refractory ITP who were given eltrombopag as second- or third-line therapy in 6 large referral hospitals in Beirut (country capital located in mid Lebanon), South, North, and Mount Lebanon between October 2016 and May 2020.

Lactate Mediates the Effects of Exercise on Learning and Memory through SIRT1-Dependent Activation of Hippocampal Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF).

Exercise promotes learning and memory formation. These effects depend on increases in hippocampal BDNF, a growth factor associated with cognitive improvement and the alleviation of depression symptoms. Identifying molecules that are produced during exercise and that mediate hippocampal expression will allow us to harness the therapeutic potential of exercise.

Pre-, pro- and synbiotics in cancer prevention and treatment-a review of basic and clinical research.

There is a growing appreciation of the role of the human microbiota in the pathophysiology of cancer. Pre-, pro- and synbiotics are some of the best evidenced means of manipulating the microbiota for therapeutic benefit and their potential role in the prevention and treatment of cancer has garnered significant interest. In this review, we discuss how these agents may have oncosuppressive effects by maintaining intestinal barrier function, immunomodulation, metabolism and preventing host cell proliferation.

Perspective: Fundamental Limitations of the Randomized Controlled Trial Method in Nutritional Research: The Example of Probiotics.

Studies on the relation between health and nutrition are often inconclusive. There are concerns about the validity of many research findings, and methods that can deliver high-quality evidence-such as the randomized controlled trial (RCT) method-have been embraced by nutritional researchers. Unfortunately, many nutritional RCTs also yield ambiguous results.

Prevalence of Subclinical Peripheral Vascular Disease in Obese Egyptian Patients.

Objective: To detect subclinical peripheral vascular disease in obese Egyptian patients and establish relations between obesity, metabolic risk factors, and PVD.

Methods: This was a prospective case-control study including 100 obese patients (BMI >30) (G1). In addition, 100 age and sex matched non-obese healthy subjects as a control group (G2).

Women and Their Microbes: The Unexpected Friendship.

Communities of microbiota have been associated with numerous health outcomes, and while much emphasis has been placed on the gastrointestinal niche, there is growing interest in the microbiome specific for female reproductive health and the health of their offspring. The vaginal microbiome plays an essential role not only in health and dysbiosis, but also potentially in successful fertilization and healthy pregnancies. In addition, microbial communities have been isolated from formerly forbidden sterile niches such as the placenta, breast, uterus, and Fallopian tubes, strongly suggesting an additional microbial role in women's health.

Epigenetic changes in diabetes.

The incidence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. Diabetes is quickly becoming one of the leading causes of death. Diabetes is a genetic disease; however, the environment plays critical roles in its development and progression.

Lactobacilli require physical contact to reduce staphylococcal TSST-1 secretion and vaginal epithelial inflammatory response.

ITALIC! Staphylococcus aureusbiofilms can be found on vaginal epithelia, secreting toxins and causing inflammation. The co-vaginal species ITALIC! Lactobacilluscan alter staphylococcal-induced epithelial secretion of inflammatory cytokines and quench staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 secretion. It is hypothesized that these effects of lactobacilli require direct physical contact between lactobacilli, staphylococci and the epithelium.

Novel carbocyclic nucleoside analogs suppress glomerular mesangial cells proliferation and matrix protein accumulation through ROS-dependent mechanism in the diabetic milieu. II. Acylhydrazone-functionalized pyrimidines.

We report herein the synthesis of a novel series of carbocyclic acylhydrazone derivatives of uracil, thymine and cytosine from the corresponding nucleic bases and their biological activity to treat diabetic nephropathy. Intriguingly, five derivatives significantly reduced high-glucose induced glomerular mesangial cells proliferation and matrix protein accumulation in vitro. The anti-oxidative effects displayed by these molecules suggest that their activity might involve a ROS-dependent mechanism.

Vaginal epithelial cells regulate membrane adhesiveness to co-ordinate bacterial adhesion.

Vaginal epithelium is colonized by different bacterial strains and species. The bacterial composition of vaginal biofilms controls the balance between health and disease. Little is known about the relative contribution of the epithelial and bacterial cell surfaces to bacterial adhesion and whether and how adhesion is regulated over cell membrane regions.

Differentiated thyroid carcinoma in early adulthood patients.

Background: This paper reviews the clinico-pathologic features and outcomes of differentiated thyroid -carcinoma in early adulthood patients.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Material: From january 2000 to december 2012, 71 patients aged between 20 and 44 years who underwent thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid carcinoma were included.

[Tolerance of adjuvant radiotherapy in the treatment of stage I seminoma].

Objective: To assess the tolerance of adjuvant radiotherapy in the treatment of stage I seminoma post-orchiectomy.

Material And Methods: Between 2001 and 2006, 21 men with stage I seminoma underwent 3D conformal radiotherapy 3 to 4 weeks post-orchiectomy. The total radiation dose was 2490 cGy divided into 15 sessions.

Adhesion forces and coaggregation between vaginal staphylococci and lactobacilli.

Urogenital infections are the most common ailments afflicting women. They are treated with dated antimicrobials whose efficacy is diminishing. The process of infection involves pathogen adhesion and displacement of indigenous Lactobacillus crispatus and Lactobacillus jensenii.

Microbiota restoration: natural and supplemented recovery of human microbial communities.

In a healthy host, a balance exists between members of the microbiota, such that potential pathogenic and non-pathogenic organisms can be found in apparent harmony. During infection, this balance can become disturbed, leading to often dramatic changes in the composition of the microbiota. For most bacterial infections, nonspecific antibiotics are used, killing the non-pathogenic members of the microbiota as well as the pathogens and leading to a substantial delay in the restoration of a healthy microbiota.

Panhypopituitarism in a child with common variable immunodeficiency.

Background: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) represents a group of heterogeneous, still undifferentiated, syndromes that are all characterized by defective antibody formation. It is often associated with autoimmune disease.

Methods: An African-American girl was diagnosed with CVID at age 3 years.

Fatality from olanzapine induced hyperglycemia.

A case history of a 31-year-old male schizophrenic patient is presented. The man was treated with olanzapine for three weeks before he died. After one week on a 10 mg daily dose of olanzapine, his fasting blood glucose was elevated to 11.