Metagenomic Study Reveals Phage-Bacterial Interactome Dynamics in Gut and Oral Microbiota in Pancreatic Diseases.

Individuals with pancreatic-related health conditions usually show lower diversity and different composition of bacterial and viral species between the gut and oral microbiomes compared to healthy individuals. We performed a thorough microbiome analysis, using deep shotgun sequencing of stool and saliva samples obtained from patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and healthy controls (HCs).We observed similar microbiota composition at the species level in both the gut and oral samples in PDAC patients compared to HCs, among which the most distinctive finding was that the abundance of oral-originated species did not differ between the oral and the gut samples.

REIV-TOXO Project: Results from a Spanish cohort of congenital toxoplasmosis (2015-2022). The beneficial effects of prenatal treatment on clinical outcomes of infected newborns.

Background: Some regions of Spain are withdrawing their pregnancy screening program for congenital toxoplasmosis (CT). The Spanish Research Network of Congenital Toxoplasmosis (REIV-TOXO) was created to describe the current status of CT in Spain. The aims of this study were to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of CT and to evaluate the effect of prenatal treatment on clinical outcomes to inform decision-making policies.

Diet Impacts on Gene Expression in Healthy Colon Tissue: Insights from the BarcUVa-Seq Study.

(1) Introduction: The global rise of gastrointestinal diseases, including colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases, highlights the need to understand their causes. Diet is a common risk factor and a crucial regulator of gene expression, with alterations observed in both conditions. This study aims to elucidate the specific biological mechanisms through which diet influences the risk of bowel diseases.

Designing an integrated care pathway for spondyloarthritis: A Lean Thinking approach.

Introduction: Integrated care pathways (ICPs) are crucial for delivering individualised care. However, the development of ICPs is challenging and must be well designed to provide the expected benefits. Regarding this, healthcare organisations are increasingly adopting management systems based on Lean Thinking to improve their organisational processes by eliminating non-value-added steps.

Sourdough Bread with Different Fermentation Times: A Randomized Clinical Trial in Subjects with Metabolic Syndrome.

The Mediterranean diet, featuring sourdough bread, shows promise in managing metabolic syndrome. This study explored the effects of two sourdough breads, with differing fermentation times but similar nutritional profiles, on inflammation, satiety, and gut microbiota composition in adults with metabolic syndrome. In a double-blind clinical trial, participants were randomized to consume either Elias Boulanger long-fermentation (48 h) sourdough bread (EBLong) or Elias Boulanger short-fermentation (2 h) sourdough bread (EBShort) over a two-month period.

Hippocampus and olfactory impairment in Parkinson disease: a comparative exploratory combined volumetric/functional MRI study.

Introduction: Patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) commonly experience Olfactory Dysfunction (OD). Our exploratory study examined hippocampal volumetric and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) variations in a Healthy Control (HC) group versus a cognitively normal PD group, further categorized into PD with No/Mild Hyposmia (PD-N/MH) and PD with Severe Hyposmia (PD-SH).

Methods: We calculated participants' relative Total Hippocampal Volume (rTHV) and performed Spearman's partial correlations, controlled for age and gender, to examine the correlation between rTHV and olfactory performance assessed by the Odor Stick Identification Test for the Japanese (OSIT-J) score.

Unexpected complexity in the molecular diagnosis of spastic paraplegia 11.

Background: Spastic paraplegia 11 (SPG11) is the most prevalent form of autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia, resulting from biallelic pathogenic variants in the SPG11 gene (MIM *610844).

Methods: The proband is a 36-year-old female referred for genetic evaluation due to cognitive dysfunction, gait impairment, and corpus callosum atrophy (brain MRI was normal at 25-years-old). Diagnostic approaches included CGH array, next-generation sequencing, and whole transcriptome sequencing.

Hospital variation in quality indicators for patient blood management in total knee and hip arthroplasty: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Anaemia, blood loss, and blood transfusion are critical aspects of patient care in major orthopaedic surgery. We assessed hospital adherence to guideline-recommended Patient Blood Management (PBM) care, analysed variations between hospitals, and validated two composite indicators of hospital PBM performance in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included all primary TKA and THA procedures performed during 2021 across 39 hospitals in Spain.

Patent Foramen Ovale Closure in Older Patients With Stroke: Patient Selection for Trial Feasibility.

Background And Objectives: Whether patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure benefits older patients with PFO and cryptogenic stroke is unknown because randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have predominantly enrolled patients younger than 60 years of age. Our objective was to estimate anticipated effects of PFO closure in older patients to predict the numbers needed to plan an RCT.

Methods: Effectiveness estimates are derived from major observational studies (Risk of Paradoxical Embolism [RoPE] Study and Oxford Vascular Study, together referred to as the "RoPE-Ox" database) and all 6 major RCTs (Systematic, Collaborative, PFO Closure Evaluation [SCOPE] Consortium).

Exploring the Associations of Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Biomarkers with Pancreatic Diseases: An Observational and Mendelian Randomisation Study.

Identifying biomarkers linked to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and chronic pancreatitis (CP) is crucial for early detection, treatment, and prevention. Association analyses of 10 serological biomarkers involved in cell signalling (IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10), oxidative stress (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) enzyme activities, total glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) levels), and intestinal permeability proteins (zonulin, I-FABP2) were conducted across PDAC ( = 12), CP ( = 21) and control subjects ( = 23). A Mendelian randomisation (MR) approach was used to assess causality of the identified significant associations in two large genetic cohorts (FinnGen and UK Biobank).

Impact of bread diet on intestinal dysbiosis and irritable bowel syndrome symptoms in quiescent ulcerative colitis: A pilot study.

Gut microbiota may be involved in the presence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-like symptomatology in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients in remission. Bread is an important source of dietary fiber, and a potential prebiotic. To assess the effect of a bread baked using traditional elaboration, in comparison with using modern elaboration procedures, in changing the gut microbiota and relieving IBS-like symptoms in patients with quiescent ulcerative colitis.

The Glucocorticoid Resistance Syndrome. Two Cases of a Novel Pathogenic Variant in the Glucocorticoid Receptor Gene.

Glucocorticoid resistance syndrome is a rare genetic condition characterized by generalized or partial target-tissue insensitivity to glucocorticoids and a consequent hyperactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Clinical manifestations may include mineralocorticoid and/or androgen excess without manifestations of Cushing syndrome. At a cellular level, glucocorticoid actions are mediated by the nuclear glucocorticoid receptor encoded by the gene.

Correlation of Cognitive Reappraisal and the Microstructural Properties of the Forceps Minor: A Deductive Exploratory Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study.

Cognitive reappraisal (CR) is a mechanism for emotion regulation, and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a central role in the regulation of emotions. We tested the hypothesis of an association between CR function and microstructural properties of forceps minor (a commissural bundle within the PFC) in healthy subjects (HS). We analyzed a population of 65 young HS of a public dataset.

Impact of corpus callosum integrity on functional interhemispheric connectivity and cognition in healthy subjects.

To examine the corpus callosum's (CC) integrity in terms of fractional anisotropy (FA) and how it affects resting-state hemispheric connectivity (rs-IHC) and cognitive function in healthy individuals. Sixty-eight healthy individuals were recruited for the study. The global FA (gFA) and FA values of each CC tract (forceps minor, body, tapetum, and forceps major) were evaluated using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequences.