A Rare Thermophilic Bug in Complicated Diverticular Abscess

A large-scale causal analysis of gut microbiota and endometriosis associated infertility: A Mendelian randomization study

Endometriosis is a prevalent condition with notable impacts on fertility. Recent studies have implicated gut microbiota in the development of endometriosis associated infertility (EAI). This study employs Mendelian randomization (MR) to elucidate the causal relationship between specific gut microbes and EAI. Using MR, we selected single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with 211 gut microbiota taxa from large-scale genome-wide association studies summary data. We applied statistical methods including inverse variance weighting, weighted median, and MR-Egger for analysis. Outliers were identified through the leave-one-out method. MR-Egger intercept tests were conducted to address horizontal pleiotropy, while Cochran Q and P values assessed heterogeneity. The false discovery rate method was used for multiple testing correction. Sensitivity analysis and F statistics evaluated the reliability and potential biases of our results. The inverse variance weighting method indicated a significant association of the genus Actinomyces (OR = 1.657, 95% CI: 1.187-2.312, P = .00298) with an increased risk of EAI. Conversely, genera Holdemania (OR = 0.630, 95% CI: 0.444-0.894, P = .00969) and Ruminococcaceae NK4A214 group (OR = 0.689, 95% CI: 0.481-0.999, P = .0439) appeared as protective factors. MR-PRESSO global test and MR-Egger regression indicated no significant horizontal pleiotropy (P > .05). Leave-one-out analysis confirmed the robustness of these findings. Our study provides evidence of a causal relationship between specific gut microbiome taxa and EAI. These findings offer novel insights and may guide the development of new preventive and therapeutic strategies for managing EAI.

Effective Regulation of Gut Microbiota With Probiotics and Prebiotics May Prevent or Alleviate COVID-19 Through the Gut-Lung Axis

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can disrupt the gut microbiota balance, and patients usually have intestinal disorders. The intestine is the largest immune organ of the human body, and gut microbes can affect the immune function of the lungs through the gut-lung axis. Many lines of evidence support the role of beneficial bacteria in enhancing human immunity, preventing pathogen colonization, and thereby reducing the incidence and severity of infection. In this article, we review the possible approach of modulating microbiota to help prevent and treat respiratory tract infections, including COVID-19, and discuss the possibility of using probiotics and prebiotics for this purpose. We also discuss the mechanism by which intestinal micro-flora regulate immunity and the effects of probiotics on the intestinal micro-ecological balance. Based on this understanding, we propose the use of probiotics and prebiotics to modulate gut microbiota for the prevention or alleviation of COVID-19 through the gut-lung axis.

Hypoxia: The "Invisible Pusher" of Gut Microbiota

Oxygen is important to the human body. Cell survival and operations depend on oxygen. When the body becomes hypoxic, it affects the organs, tissues and cells and can cause irreversible damage. Hypoxia can occur under various conditions, including external environmental hypoxia and internal hypoxia. The gut microbiota plays different roles under hypoxic conditions, and its products and metabolites interact with susceptible tissues. This review was conducted to elucidate the complex relationship between hypoxia and the gut microbiota under different conditions. We describe the changes of intestinal microbiota under different hypoxic conditions: external environment and internal environment. For external environment, altitude was the mayor cause induced hypoxia. With the increase of altitude, hypoxia will become more serious, and meanwhile gut microbiota also changed obviously. Body internal environment also became hypoxia because of some diseases (such as cancer, neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis, even COVID-19). In addition to the disease itself, this hypoxia can also lead to changes of gut microbiota. The relationship between hypoxia and the gut microbiota are discussed under these conditions.

Primary liver actinomycosis in a pediatric patient: A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND

Primary hepatic actinomycosis is a rare infection that can be clinically confused with hepatic pyogenic abscesses or neoproliferative processes. Only a few cases of primary hepatic actinomycosis in children have been reported in the English literature.

CASE SUMMARY

We describe a pediatric patient with primary hepatic actinomycosis that involved the base of the right lung and anterior abdominal wall and skin. The patient was diagnosed via histological examination of spontaneously drained material. The patient was successfully treated with an exploratory laparotomy and right posterior segmentectomy of the liver, combined with antibiotic treatment. Following surgery, the patient remains in excellent condition, without evidence of recurrence at the time of drafting this report. To summarize the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of primary hepatic actinomycosis, 18 case reports in English were reviewed.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that actinomycosis clinically features a chronic onset, nonspecific symptoms, and a primarily histologic diagnosis. Prolonged antibiotic treatment combined with invasive intervention provides a good prognosis.

Alterations of the Gut Microbiota in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 or H1N1 Influenza

Background

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging serious global health problem. Gastrointestinal symptoms are common in COVID-19 patients, and SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been detected in stool specimens. However, the relationship between the gut microbiome and disease remains to be established.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 30 COVID-19 patients, 24 influenza A (H1N1) patients, and 30 matched healthy controls (HC) to identify differences in the gut microbiota by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene V3-V4 region sequencing.

Results

Compared with HC, COVID-19 patients had significantly reduced bacterial diversity, a significantly higher relative abundance of opportunistic pathogens, such as Streptococcus, Rothia, Veillonella and Actinomyces, and a lower relative abundance of beneficial symbionts. Five biomarkers showed high accuracy for distinguishing COVID-19 patients from HC with an area under the curve (AUC) up to 0.89. Patients with H1N1 displayed lower diversity and different overall microbial composition compared with COVID-19 patients. Seven biomarkers were selected to distinguish the two cohorts with an AUC of 0.94.

Conclusion

The gut microbial signature of patients with COVID-19 was different from that of H1N1 patients and HC. Our study suggests the potential value of the gut microbiota as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for COVID-19, but further validation is needed.

Gut microbial co-abundance networks show specificity in inflammatory bowel disease and obesity

The gut microbiome is an ecosystem that involves complex interactions. Currently, our knowledge about the role of the gut microbiome in health and disease relies mainly on differential microbial abundance, and little is known about the role of microbial interactions in the context of human disease. Here, we construct and compare microbial co-abundance networks using 2,379 metagenomes from four human cohorts: an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cohort, an obese cohort and two population-based cohorts. We find that the strengths of 38.6% of species co-abundances and 64.3% of pathway co-abundances vary significantly between cohorts, with 113 species and 1,050 pathway co-abundances showing IBD-specific effects and 281 pathway co-abundances showing obesity-specific effects. We can also replicate these IBD microbial co-abundances in longitudinal data from the IBD cohort of the integrative human microbiome (iHMP-IBD) project. Our study identifies several key species and pathways in IBD and obesity and provides evidence that altered microbial abundances in disease can influence their co-abundance relationship, which expands our current knowledge regarding microbial dysbiosis in disease.

Actinomyces and Alimentary Tract Diseases: A Review of Its Biological Functions and Pathology

Actinomyces are nonmotile, filamentous, Gram-positive bacteria that cause actinomycosis in immunodeficiency patients. Although the prognosis of actinomycosis is good, the diagnosis of actinomycosis is quite difficult. Recent studies on actinomycosis have shown that Actinomyces play an important role in various biological and clinical processes, such as the formation of dental plaque and the degradation of organics in the gastrointestinal tract. Here, the distribution of Actinomyces in the digestive tract, and different biological effects of actinomycosis, and its clinical association with inflammatory diseases are discussed. Furthermore, an overview of the most commonly used treatment methods and drugs used to treat Actinomyces infected alimentary canal diseases is presented.