Feature Channels: Microbiome

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Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York have discovered that bacteria living in the gut provide a first line of defense against severe Listeria infections. The study, which will be published June 6 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests that providing these bacteria in the form of probiotics could protect individuals who are particularly susceptible to Listeria, including pregnant women and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

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The blend of bacteria in the digestive tract of metastatic melanoma patients is associated with disease progression or delay in patients treated with immunotherapy, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report at the 2017 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

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The study looked at the microbial population in the gastrointestinal tract of infants at a formative stage of life when metabolic set points are being established. The study analyzed the stool samples from 173 white Caucasian and 182 South Asian one-year-olds recruited from two birth cohort studies (CHILD and START).

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In humans, developing metabolic disease, particularly type 2 diabetes, is correlated with having bacteria that penetrate the mucus lining of the colon, according to a study led by Drs. Benoit Chassaing and Andrew Gewirtz at Georgia State University.

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Obesity is linked with the composition of microbes in the human gut. In new research, bacterial composition in the gut, as well as accompanying metabolites are shown to undergo a profound and permanent shift, with microbial diversity significantly increasing following gastric bypass surgery.

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A 12-month study mapping bacterial diversity within a hospital — with a focus on the flow of microbes between patients, staff and surfaces — should help hospitals worldwide better understand how to encourage beneficial microbial interactions and decrease potentially harmful contact. The Hospital Microbiome Project is the single biggest microbiome analysis of a hospital performed, and one of the largest microbiome studies ever.

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It is the first study showing improved depression scores with a probiotic. It adds to the whole field of microbiota-gut-brain axis, providing evidence that bacteria affect behavior.

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Led by researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, a study in mice finds that development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could be arrested by switching from a high-glycemic to a low-glycemic diet.

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Bacteria in the gut microbiome drive the formation of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), clusters of dilated, thin-walled blood vessels in the brain that can cause stroke and seizures. The research team’s research suggests that altering the microbiome in CCM patients may be an effective therapy for this cerebrovascular disease.

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Until now, scientists have only had a murky understanding of how these relationships arise. Now Colin Dale and his colleagues at the University of Utah have an answer. It’s good news and bad news, germophobes: The bad news? Mutualistic bacteria start out by invading animal cells just like malevolent disease-causing bacteria do. The good news? Once they’re in, they calm down and play nice.

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A first-of-its-kind portable wireless device developed by an NYIT-led research team can monitor stomach motility to enable physicians to measure and ultimately better understand slow wave activity in gastric contractions.

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Research shows for the first time an association between the gut microbiota and the brain regions involved in the processing of sensory information from their bodies. Also, the researchers gained insight into the connections among childhood trauma, brain development and gut microbiome composition.

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A new study finds that long periods of physiological stress can change the composition of microorganisms residing in the intestines (intestinal microbiota), which could increase health risks in endurance athletes and military personnel. The study, published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, is the first to study the response of the intestinal microbiota during military training.

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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) — a condition that can lead to liver cirrhosis and cancer — isn’t typically detected until well advanced. Even then, diagnosis requires a biopsy. To more easily detect NAFLD, UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers and their collaborators report that the microbial makeup of a patient’s stool — gut microbiome — can be used to predict advanced NAFLD with 88 to 94 percent accuracy. The study is published May 2 in Cell Metabolism.

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Parkinson’s disease may start in the gut and spread to the brain via the vagus nerve, according to a study published in the April 26, 2017, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The vagus nerve extends from the brainstem to the abdomen and controls unconscious body processes like heart rate and food digestion.

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Hundreds of thousands of babies worldwide die every year from infections that ravage their digestive systems. New research in mice offers evidence that the difference in survival may come from certain bacteria in their guts, called Clostridia, which appear to provide key protection against infection, in addition to helping digest food.

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A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of bacteriology has shown the first proof that a certain group of amoeba called dictyostelids can penetrate biofilms and eat the bacteria within.

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Mice in germ-free conditions and then compared to their conventionally raised counterparts. In contrast to conventionally raised mice, the germ-free mice did not show age-related increases in inflammation and a higher proportion of them lived to a ripe old age. Age is associated with an increase in levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF), in the bloodstream and tissues. It was found that germ-free mice did not have increased TNF with age.

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Biologists have discovered that communities of bacteria have been employing a social timesharing strategy for millions of years. Bacteria facing limited nutrients enter an elegant timesharing strategy--a concept used for vacation homes and social applications--in which communities alternate feeding periods to maximize efficiency.

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Research led by a Houston Methodist gastroenterologist shows that patients who have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) for more than two decades have a higher risk of developing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

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In a small pilot study of men with schizophrenia, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Sheppard Pratt Health System say they have evidence that adding probiotics -- microorganisms, such as bacteria found in yogurts -- to the patients' diets may help treat yeast infections and ease bowel problems. Probiotics may also decrease delusions and hallucinations, but in the study, these psychiatric benefits mostly affected those without a history of yeast infections.

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After 4-week trial of added rice bran, navy bean powder or neither, both the rice bran and navy bean groups showed increased dietary fiber, iron, zinc, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, and alpha-tocopherol. The rice bran group also showed increased microbiome richness and diversity. When researchers treated colorectal cancer cells with stool extracts from these groups, they saw reduced cell growth from the groups that had increased rice bran and navy bean consumption.

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A new study finds that a noninvasive electromagnetic brain stimulation technique helps obese people lose weight, partly by changing the composition of their intestinal bacteria—the so-called gut microbiota. Results of the technique, called deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS), will be presented Sunday at ENDO 2017, the Endocrine Society’s 99th annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

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It makes sense that a 1,200 pound Angus cow would place quite a lot of pressure on the ground on which it walks. But a new study shows that even these heavy beasts can’t do much to compact common soils—if they’re grazed responsibly.

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The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) has received a grant to fund research on the link between gastroesophageal reflux disease and esophageal cancer.

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The American Cancer Society and the Cigna Foundation have awarded $232,000 in grants to MedStar Washington Hospital Center to support its innovative community-based program to address the crisis of advanced colon cancer, occurring largely among African-Americans with health insurance living in Washington D.C.’s Ward 5.

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Health psychologists have begun treating gastrointestinal disorders that are strongly affected by stress, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, functional heartburn, functional dyspepsia and ulcerative colitis.

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For 130 years, surgery has been the standard treatment for appendicitis — inflammation of the appendix, a short tube extending from the colon. After all, it’s best to remove an infected body part that is not essential to survival rather than risk a rupture that spews bacteria into the abdomen. Right? Maybe not. UCLA Dr.

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In a study published in journal Nature Immunology, UNC Lineberger researchers describe how inflammation can go unchecked in the absence of a certain inflammation inhibitor called NLRP12. In a harmful feedback loop, this inflammation can upset the balance of bacteria living in the gut.

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During the past decade, the gut has experienced a renaissance as investigations focus on the role of the microbiome on human health. While most studies have focused on bacteria, the dominant microbial inhabitants in the gut, scientists at University of Utah Health Sciences used mouse studies to show the role of yeast in aggravating the symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Their work suggests that allopurinol, a generic drug already on the market, could offer some relief.

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Understanding interactions among organisms in complex microbial communities sheds new light on a globally significant environmental process.

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The scientists discovered the antiprotozoal drug pentamidine disrupts the cell surface of Gram-negative bacteria, even the most resistant. The anti-fungal medication was particularly potent when used with antibiotics against multidrug resistant bacteria.

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A new study from researchers at the UAB shows that Parkinson’s disease, and medications to treat Parkinson’s, have distinct effects on the composition of the trillions of bacteria that make up the gut microbiome.

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The goal of the study was to explore whether fecal microbiota from human IBS patients with diarrhea has the ability to influence gut and brain function in recipient mice. Using fecal transplants, researchers transferred microbiota from IBS patients with or without anxiety into germ-free mice. The mice went on to develop changes both in intestinal function and behavior reminiscent of the donor IBS patients, compared to mice that were transplanted with microbiota from healthy individuals.

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In the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Jeroen Ingels, a researcher at the FSU Coastal and Marine Laboratory, explains that small organisms called meiofauna that live in the sediment provide essential services to human life such as food production and nutrient cycling.

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Genome study shows mixing of European and African H. pylori strains in modern American populations.

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Wastewater from oil and gas operations – including fracking for shale gas – at a West Virginia site altered microbes downstream, according to a Rutgers-led study. The study, published recently in Science of the Total Environment, showed that wastewater releases, including briny water that contained petroleum and other pollutants, altered the diversity, numbers and functions of microbes. The shifts in the microbial community indicated changes in their respiration and nutrient cycling, along with signs of stress.

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Human lungs contain many bacteria, which make up a unique microbiome. New research pinpoints just how they get there, and opens the door to more research on what happens to them – and our bodies – as a result.

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Melanoma patients’ response to a major form of immunotherapy is associated with the diversity and makeup of trillions of potential allies and enemies found in the digestive tract, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report at the ASCO-Society for Immunotherapy in Cancer meeting in Orlando.

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For the first time, scientists analyzed the genetic material of surface microbes that are colonizing the deep subsurface, where they are adapting and thriving.

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Nathan Schmidt, Ph.D., has shown that microbes in the gut of mice can affect the severity of illness suffered from infection with Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria. He now begins research to determine which microbiota protect the host and to learn more about the mechanism behind that protection.

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The community of microorganisms that resides in the gut, known as the microbiome, has been shown to work in tandem with the genes of a host organism to regulate insulin secretion, a key variable in the onset of the metabolic disease diabetes. That is the primary finding of a study published this week by a team led by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.

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University of British Columbia microbiologists have found a yeast in the gut of new babies in Ecuador that appears to be a strong predictor that they will develop asthma in childhood. The new research furthers our understanding of the role microscopic organisms play in our overall health.

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Harvard Medical School researchers have successfully “listened in” on the crosstalk between gut microbes and the immune system.

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Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have discovered why a lethal superbug is so resistant to the last line antibiotic meaning potential treatments could now be developed to fight the killer infection.

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A new study conducted by researchers at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas identified a key interaction between Fusobacterium nucleatum, a bacteria commonly linked to gum disease, and a specific microRNA gene regulator in the gut that led to tumor growth in the colon.

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Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are more likely to see dramatic shifts in the make-up of the community of microbes in their gut than healthy people, according to a study published in Nature Microbiology. The results help physicians understand the disease more fully and potentially offer new ways to track the disease and monitor patients.

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American Diabetes Association awards Aleksandar Kostic, PhD, of Joslin Diabetes Center, $1.625M for the development of a novel experimental system designed to improve our understanding about how bacteria in the gut (the gut “microbiome”) may contribute to the autoimmune attack that leads to type 1 diabetes.

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Northwestern University researchers studying the gut bacteria of Scott and Mark Kelly, NASA astronauts and identical twin brothers, as part of a unique human study have found that changes to certain gut “bugs” occur in space.

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In the microbial world, vitamin B12 is a hot commodity. It turns out that vitamin B12, a substance produced by only a few organisms but needed by nearly all of them, wields great power in microbial communities – ubiquitous structures that affect energy and food production, the environment, and human health.