Prospective examination of the changes in the urinary microbiome induced by transrectal biopsy of the prostate using 16S rRNA gene analysis

Microbiome's Universe: Impact on health, disease and cancer treatment

The human microbiome is a diverse ecosystem of microorganisms that reside in the body and influence various aspects of health and well-being. Recent advances in sequencing technology have brought to light microbial communities in organs and tissues that were previously considered sterile. The gut microbiota plays an important role in host physiology, including metabolic functions and immune modulation. Disruptions in the balance of the microbiome, known as dysbiosis, have been linked to diseases such as cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic disorders. In addition, the administration of antibiotics can lead to dysbiosis by disrupting the structure and function of the gut microbial community. Targeting strategies are the key to rebalancing the microbiome and fighting disease, including cancer, through interventions such as probiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), and bacteria-based therapies. Future research must focus on understanding the complex interactions between diet, the microbiome and cancer in order to optimize personalized interventions. Multidisciplinary collaborations are essential if we are going to translate microbiome research into clinical practice. This will revolutionize approaches to cancer prevention and treatment.

Microbiome and Prostate Cancer: Emerging Diagnostic and Therapeutic Opportunities

This review systematically addresses the correlation between the microbiome and prostate cancer and explores its diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Recent research has indicated an association between the urinary and gut microbiome composition and prostate cancer incidence and progression. Specifically, the urinary microbiome is a potential non-invasive biomarker for early detection and risk evaluation, with altered microbial profiles in prostate cancer patients. This represents an advancement in non-invasive diagnostic approaches to prostate cancer. The role of the gut microbiome in the efficacy of various cancer therapies has recently gained attention. Gut microbiota variations can affect the metabolism and effectiveness of standard treatment modalities, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and hormone therapy. This review explores the potential of gut microbiome modification through dietary interventions, prebiotics, probiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation for improving the treatment response and mitigating adverse effects. Moreover, this review discusses the potential of microbiome profiling for patient stratification and personalized treatment strategies. While the current research identifies the pivotal role of the microbiome in prostate cancer, it also highlights the necessity for further investigations to fully understand these complex interactions and their practical applications in improving patient outcomes in prostate cancer management.

Metagenomics studies for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer

AIM

Mutation occurs in the prostate cell genes, leading to abnormal prostate proliferation and ultimately cancer. Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common cancers amongst men, and its prevalence worldwide increases relative to men's age. About 16% of the world's cancers are the result of microbes in the human body. Impaired population balance of symbiosis microbes in the human reproductive system is linked to PC development.

DISCUSSION

With the advent of metagenomics science, the genome sequence of the microbiota of the human body has been unveiled. Therefore, it is now possible to identify a higher range of microbiome changes in PC tissue via the Next Generation Technique, which will have positive consequences in personalized medicine. In this review, we intend to question the role of metagenomics studies in the diagnosis and treatment of PC.

CONCLUSION

The microbial imbalance in the men's genital tract might have an effect on prostate health. Based on next-generation sequencing-generated data, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteriodetes are the nine frequent phyla detected in a PC sample, which might be involved in inducing mutation in the prostate cells that cause cancer.

Serine and one-carbon metabolisms bring new therapeutic venues in prostate cancer

Serine and one-carbon unit metabolisms are essential biochemical pathways implicated in fundamental cellular functions such as proliferation, biosynthesis of important anabolic precursors and in general for the availability of methyl groups. These two distinct but interacting pathways are now becoming crucial in cancer, the de novo cytosolic serine pathway and the mitochondrial one-carbon metabolism. Apart from their role in physiological conditions, such as epithelial proliferation, the serine metabolism alterations are associated to several highly neoplastic proliferative pathologies. Accordingly, prostate cancer shows a deep rearrangement of its metabolism, driven by the dependency from the androgenic stimulus. Several new experimental evidence describes the role of a few of the enzymes involved in the serine metabolism in prostate cancer pathogenesis. The aim of this study is to analyze gene and protein expression data publicly available from large cancer specimens dataset, in order to further dissect the potential role of the abovementioned metabolism in the complex reshaping of the anabolic environment in this kind of neoplasm. The data suggest a potential role as biomarkers as well as in cancer therapy for the genes (and enzymes) belonging to the one-carbon metabolism in the context of prostatic cancer.

The Application of High-Throughput Technologies for the Study of Microbiome and Cancer

Human gut microbiome research, especially gut microbiome, has been developing at a considerable pace over the last decades, driven by a rapid technological advancement. The emergence of high-throughput technologies, such as genomics, transcriptomics, and others, has afforded the generation of large volumes of data, and in relation to specific pathologies such as different cancer types. The current review identifies high-throughput technologies as they have been implemented in the study of microbiome and cancer. Four main thematic areas have emerged: the characterization of microbial diversity and composition, microbial functional analyses, biomarker prediction, and, lastly, potential therapeutic applications. The majority of studies identified focus on the microbiome diversity characterization, which is reaching technological maturity, while the remaining three thematic areas could be described as emerging.

The Crosstalk between Prostate Cancer and Microbiota Inflammation: Nutraceutical Products Are Useful to Balance This Interplay?

The human microbiota shows pivotal roles in urologic health and disease. Emerging studies indicate that gut and urinary microbiomes can impact several urological diseases, both benignant and malignant, acting particularly on prostate inflammation and prostate cancer. Indeed, the microbiota exerts its influence on prostate cancer initiation and/or progression mechanisms through the regulation of chronic inflammation, apoptotic processes, cytokines, and hormonal production in response to different pathogenic noxae. Additionally, therapies' and drugs' responses are influenced in their efficacy and tolerability by microbiota composition. Due to this complex potential interconnection between prostate cancer and microbiota, exploration and understanding of the involved relationships is pivotal to evaluate a potential therapeutic application in clinical practice. Several natural compounds, moreover, seem to have relevant effects, directly or mediated by microbiota, on urologic health, posing the human microbiota at the crossroad between prostatic inflammation and prostate cancer development. Here, we aim to analyze the most recent evidence regarding the possible crosstalk between prostate, microbiome, and inflammation.

Human microbiome and prostate cancer development: current insights into the prevention and treatment

The huge communities of microorganisms that symbiotically colonize humans are recognized as significant players in health and disease. The human microbiome may influence prostate cancer development. To date, several studies have focused on the effect of prostate infections as well as the composition of the human microbiome in relation to prostate cancer risk. Current studies suggest that the microbiota of men with prostate cancer significantly differs from that of healthy men, demonstrating that certain bacteria could be associated with cancer development as well as altered responses to treatment. In healthy individuals, the microbiome plays a crucial role in the maintenance of homeostasis of body metabolism. Dysbiosis may contribute to the emergence of health problems, including malignancy through affecting systemic immune responses and creating systemic inflammation, and changing serum hormone levels. In this review, we discuss recent data about how the microbes colonizing different parts of the human body including urinary tract, gastrointestinal tract, oral cavity, and skin might affect the risk of developing prostate cancer. Furthermore, we discuss strategies to target the microbiome for risk assessment, prevention, and treatment of prostate cancer.

Urinary Microbiota-Are We Ready for Prime Time? A Literature Review of Study Methods' Critical Steps in Avoiding Contamination and Minimizing Biased Results

Within the last few years, there have been an increased number of clinical studies involving urinary microbiota. Low-biomass microbiome sequencing (e.g., urine, lung, placenta, blood) is easily biased by contamination or cross-contamination. So far, a few critical steps, from sampling urine to processing and analyzing, have been described (e.g., urine collection modality, sample volume size, snap freezing, negative controls usage, laboratory risks for contamination assessment, contamination of negative results reporting, exploration and discussion of the impact of contamination for the final results, etc.) We performed a literature search (Pubmed, Scopus and Embase) and reviewed the published articles related to urinary microbiome, evaluating how the aforementioned critical steps to obtain unbiased, reliable results have been taken or have been reported. We identified different urinary microbiome evaluation protocols, with non-homogenous reporting systems, which can make gathering results into consistent data for similar topics difficult and further burden the already so complex emerging field of urinary microbiome. We concluded that to ease the progress in this field, a joint approach from researchers, authors and publishers would be necessary in order to create mandatory reporting systems which would allow to recognize pitfalls and avoid compromising a promising field of research.

The urinary microbiome shows different bacterial genera in renal transplant recipients and non-transplant patients at time of acute kidney injury - a pilot study

Background

In the past urine was considered sterile. Through the introduction of next generation sequencing, it has become clear that a urinary microbiome exists. Acute kidney injury (AKI) represents a major threat to kidney transplant recipients. Remarkable changes in the urinary metabolome occur during AKI, which may influence the urinary microbiome. To our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the urinary microbiome in renal transplant recipients (RTX) and non-transplant recipients (nRTX) at time of AKI.

Methods

In this cross-sectional pilot-study the urinary microbiome of 21 RTX and 9 nRTX with AKI was examined. Clean catch morning urine samples were obtained from all patients on the first day of AKI diagnosis. AKI was defined according to KDIGO guidelines. Urinary microbiota and the urinary metabolome during AKI were assessed in one patient. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed. Sequences were processed using UPARSE-pipeline for operational taxonomic units (OTU) and taxon finding.

Results

We successfully extracted and sequenced bacterial DNA from 100% of the urine samples. All 30 patients revealed at least 106,138 reads. 319 OTU and 211 different genera were identified. The microbiotic diversity richness in the RTX group was no different from the nRTX group. Eighteen genera were solely present in nRTX and 7 in RTX.

Conclusions

The urinary microbiome at time of AKI showed different bacterial genera in RTX compared to nRTX. The nRTX group exhibited no different diversity to the RTX group. Irrespective of the status of a previous renal transplantation, the urinary microbiome comprised > 210 different genera. An intraindividual change in microbiota diversity and richness was observed in one study patient during recovery from AKI.