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Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2023There was some evidence that gut microbiota was closely related to cholelithiasis, but the causal relationship between them remained unclear. In this study, we try to...
BACKGROUND
There was some evidence that gut microbiota was closely related to cholelithiasis, but the causal relationship between them remained unclear. In this study, we try to use Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to clarify the potential causal relationship between gut microbiota and cholelithiasis.
METHODS
Summary Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) statistical data for gut microbiota was obtained from MiBioGen, and the data of cholelithiasis was obtained from UK Biobank (UKB). Two-sample MR analyses were performed to assess causalities between gut microbiota and cholelithiasis mainly using the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method. Sensitivity analyses were used to determine the robustness of the MR results. Reverse MR analyses were performed to examine the reverse causal association.
RESULTS
Our research results, based primarily on the IVW method, support the existence of a causal relationship between nine gut microbial taxa and cholelithiasis. We observed a positive association between G (p=0.032), (p=0.015), (p=0.003), (p=0.010) and cholelithiasis, while (p=0.031), (p=0.010), (p=0.036), (p=0.023), (p=0.022) may be associated with a reduced risk of cholelithiasis. We did not find a reverse causal relationship between cholelithiasis and 9 specific gut microbial taxa.
CONCLUSIONS
This is the first mendelian randomization study to explore the causalities between specific gut microbiota taxa and cholelithiasis, which may provide new ideas and a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of cholelithiasis in the future.
Topics: Humans; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Genome-Wide Association Study; Mendelian Randomization Analysis; Causality; Clostridiales; Cholelithiasis
PubMed: 37305422
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1169119 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2023Multiple clinical studies have indicated that the gut microbiota influences the effects of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy comprising PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, but...
BACKGROUND
Multiple clinical studies have indicated that the gut microbiota influences the effects of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy comprising PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, but the causal relationship is unclear. Because of numerous confounders, many microbes related to PD-1/PD-L1 have not been identified. This study aimed to determine the causal relationship between the microbiota and PD-1/PD-L1 and identify possible biomarkers for ICB therapy.
METHOD
We used bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization with two different thresholds to explore the potential causal relationship between the microbiota and PD-1/PD-L1 and species-level microbiota GWAS to verify the result.
RESULT
In the primary forward analysis, genus_Holdemanella showed a negative correlation with PD-1 [βIVW = -0.25; 95% CI (-0.43 to -0.07); P = 0.028] and genus_Prevotella9 showed a positive correlation with PD-1 [βIVW = 0.2; 95% CI (0.1 to 0.4); P = 0.027]; order_Rhodospirillales [βIVW = 0.2; 95% CI (0.1 to 0.4); P = 0.044], family_Rhodospirillaceae [βIVW = 0.2; 95% CI (0 to 0.4); P = 0.032], genus_Ruminococcaceae_UCG005 [βIVW = 0.29; 95% CI (0.08 to 0.5); P = 0.028], genus_Ruminococcus_gnavus_group [βIVW = 0.22; 95% CI (0.05 to 0.4); P = 0.029], and genus_Coprococcus_2 [βIVW = 0.4; 95% CI (0.1 to 0.6); P = 0.018] were positively correlated with PD-L1; and phylum_Firmicutes [βIVW = -0.3; 95% CI (-0.4 to -0.1); P = 0.031], family_ClostridialesvadinBB60group [βIVW = -0.31; 95% CI (-0.5 to -0.11), P = 0.008], family_Ruminococcaceae [βIVW = -0.33; 95% CI (-0.58 to -0.07); P = 0.049], and genus_Ruminococcaceae_UCG014 [βIVW = -0.35; 95% CI (-0.57 to -0.13); P = 0.006] were negatively correlated with PD-L1. The one significant species in further analysis was species_Parabacteroides_unclassified [βIVW = 0.2; 95% CI (0-0.4); P = 0.029]. Heterogeneity (P > 0.05) and pleiotropy (P > 0.05) analyses confirmed the robustness of the MR results.
Topics: B7-H1 Antigen; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Mendelian Randomization Analysis; Ligands; Apoptosis
PubMed: 36969249
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1136169 -
Gut Microbes Dec 2023The impact of carbohydrate quality, measured by the carbohydrate quality index (CQI), on gut microbiota and health has been scarcely investigated. The aim of this study...
The impact of carbohydrate quality, measured by the carbohydrate quality index (CQI), on gut microbiota and health has been scarcely investigated. The aim of this study was to cross-sectionally and longitudinally explore the relationships between CQI, fecal microbiota, and cardiometabolic risk factors in an elderly Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk. At baseline and 1-year, CQI was assessed from food frequency questionnaires data, cardiometabolic risk factors were measured, and fecal microbiota profiled from 16S sequencing. Multivariable-adjusted linear regression models were fitted to assess the associations between tertiles of baseline CQI, fecal microbiota, and cardiometabolic risk factors at baseline, and between tertiles of 1-year change in CQI, 1-year change in fecal microbiota and cardiometabolic risk factors. Cross-sectionally, higher CQI was positively associated with Shannon alpha diversity index, and abundance of genera and R7 group, and negatively associated with the abundance of , and uncultured genera. Some of these genera were associated with higher glycated hemoglobin and lower body mass index. In addition, we observed a positive association between CQI, and some pathways related with the metabolism of butyrate precursors and plants-origin molecules. Longitudinally, 1-year improvement in CQI was associated with a concurrent increase in the abundance of genera . Increased abundance of this genera was associated with 1-year improvement in insulin status. These observations suggest that a better quality of carbohydrate intake is associated with improved metabolic health, and this improvement could be modulated by greater alpha diversity and abundance of specific genera linked to beneficial metabolic outcomes.
Topics: Aged; Humans; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Cohort Studies; Microbiota; Bacteroidetes; Cardiovascular Diseases
PubMed: 37610130
DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2246185 -
Nature Communications Sep 2019Spin wave logic circuits using quantum oscillations of spins (magnons) as carriers of information have been proposed for next generation computing with reduced energy...
Spin wave logic circuits using quantum oscillations of spins (magnons) as carriers of information have been proposed for next generation computing with reduced energy demands and the benefit of easy parallelization. Current realizations of magnonic devices have micrometer sized patterns. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of biogenic nanoparticle chains as the first step to truly nanoscale magnonics at room temperature. Our measurements on magnetosome chains (ca 12 magnetite crystals with 35 nm particle size each), combined with micromagnetic simulations, show that the topology of the magnon bands, namely anisotropy, band deformation, and band gaps are determined by local arrangement and orientation of particles, which in turn depends on the genotype of the bacteria. Our biomagnonic approach offers the exciting prospect of genetically engineering magnonic quantum states in nanoconfined geometries. By connecting mutants of magnetotactic bacteria with different arrangements of magnetite crystals, novel architectures for magnonic computing may be (self-) assembled.
Topics: Anisotropy; Computer Simulation; Crystallization; Genotype; Magnetics; Magnetosomes; Magnetospirillum; Mutation; Nanoparticles; Particle Size; Quantum Theory; Spin Labels
PubMed: 31554798
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12219-0 -
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual... Jun 2023To explore the mechanisms relating the gut microbiome (GM) to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as they remain unclear. GM taxa that appear to act within the...
PURPOSE
To explore the mechanisms relating the gut microbiome (GM) to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as they remain unclear. GM taxa that appear to act within the gut-retina axis may affect the risk of AMD.
METHODS
Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 196 GM taxa were obtained from the MiBioGen consortium, and a Mendelian randomization (MR) study was carried out to estimate the causality between GM taxa and AMD (defined as an endpoint based on ICD-9 and ICD-10). Using the data from the FinnGen consortium (6157 patients and 288,237 controls), we explored the GM taxa for causality and verified the results at the replication stage based on the MRC-IEU consortium (3553 cases and 147,089 controls). Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was the main method used to analyze causality, and the MR results were verified using heterogeneity tests and pleiotropy tests.
RESULTS
According to the MR results, order Rhodospirillales (P = 3.38 × 10-2), family Victivallaceae (P = 3.14 × 10-2), family Rikenellaceae (P = 3.58 × 10-2), genus Slackia (P = 3.15 × 10-2), genus Faecalibacterium (P = 3.01 × 10-2), genus Bilophila (P = 1.11 × 10-2), and genus Candidatus Soleaferrea (P = 2.45 × 10-2) were suggestively associated with AMD. In the replication stage, only order Rhodospirillales (P = 0.03) passed validation. The heterogeneity (P > 0.05) and pleiotropy (P > 0.05) tests in two stages confirmed the robustness of the MR results.
CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed that order Rhodospirillales influenced the risk of AMD based on the gut-retina axis, providing new impetus for the development of the GM as an intervention to prevent the occurrence and development of AMD.
Topics: Humans; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Macular Degeneration; Retina; Causality; Actinobacteria
PubMed: 37314756
DOI: 10.1167/iovs.64.7.22 -
PLoS Genetics Feb 2020Many species of bacteria can manufacture materials on a finer scale than those that are synthetically made. These products are often produced within intracellular... (Review)
Review
Many species of bacteria can manufacture materials on a finer scale than those that are synthetically made. These products are often produced within intracellular compartments that bear many hallmarks of eukaryotic organelles. One unique and elegant group of organisms is at the forefront of studies into the mechanisms of organelle formation and biomineralization. Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) produce organelles called magnetosomes that contain nanocrystals of magnetic material, and understanding the molecular mechanisms behind magnetosome formation and biomineralization is a rich area of study. In this Review, we focus on the genetics behind the formation of magnetosomes and biomineralization. We cover the history of genetic discoveries in MTB and key insights that have been found in recent years and provide a perspective on the future of genetic studies in MTB.
Topics: Bacterial Proteins; Biomineralization; DNA Transposable Elements; Desulfovibrio; Ferrosoferric Oxide; Genes, Bacterial; Magnetosomes; Magnetospirillum; Metal Nanoparticles; Mutagenesis; Mutation
PubMed: 32053597
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008499 -
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2023Sleep deprivation has developed into a common phenomenon, which can lead to inflammatory responses and cognitive impairment, but the underlying mechanism is ambiguous....
OBJECTIVE
Sleep deprivation has developed into a common phenomenon, which can lead to inflammatory responses and cognitive impairment, but the underlying mechanism is ambiguous. Emerging evidence shows that gut microbiota plays a crucial role in theoccurrence and development of inflammatory and psychiatric diseases, possibly through neuroinflammation and the brain-gut axis. The current study investigated the influence of sleep deprivation on gut microbiota composition, pro-inflammatory cytokines, learning and memory in mice. Further, it explored whether changes in gut microbiota increase pro-inflammatory cytokine and induce learning and memory impairment.
METHODS
Healthy 8-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into the regular control group (RC), environmental control group (EC), and sleep deprivation group (SD). The sleep deprivation model was established by the Modified Multiple Platform Method. The experimental mice were subjected to sleep deprivation for 6h/d (8:00 am∼14:00 pm) in a sleep deprivation chamber, and the duration of sleep deprivation was 8 weeks. Morris water maze test to assess learning and memory in mice. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay determined the concentrations of inflammatory cytokines. The changes in gut microbiota in mice were analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing.
RESULTS
We found that SD mice had elevated latency of exploration to reach the hidden platform (p>0.05) and significantly decreased traversing times, swimming distance, and swimming time in the target zone when the hidden platform was removed (p<0.05). Sleep deprivation caused dysregulated expression in serum IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in mice, and the difference was significant (all p<0.001). Tannerellaceae, Rhodospirillales, Alistipes, and Parabacteroides were significantly increased in SD mice. Correlation analysis showed IL-1β was positively correlated with the abundance of Muribaculaceae (r=0.497, p<0.05) and negatively correlated with the abundance of Lachnospiraceae (r=-0.583, p<0.05). The TNF-α was positively correlated with the abundances of Erysipelotrichaceae, Burkholderiaceae, and Tannerellaceae (r=0.492, r=0.646, r=0.726, all p<0.05).
CONCLUSION
Sleep deprivation can increase pro-inflammatory cytokine responses and learning and memory impairment in mice and may be caused by the disorder of the microbiota. These findings of this study may open avenues for potential interventions that can relieve the detrimental consequences of sleep loss.
Topics: Mice; Male; Animals; Sleep Deprivation; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Cytokines
PubMed: 37293204
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1159771 -
Emerging Infectious Diseases Oct 2022We isolated Haematospirillum jordaniae from a positive blood culture from a 57-year-old man in Slovenia who had bacteremia and bullous cellulitis of lower extremities....
We isolated Haematospirillum jordaniae from a positive blood culture from a 57-year-old man in Slovenia who had bacteremia and bullous cellulitis of lower extremities. The infection was successfully treated with ciprofloxacin. Our findings signal the need for increased awareness about the clinical course of H. jordaniae and its potential effects as a human pathogen.
Topics: Bacteremia; Cellulitis; Ciprofloxacin; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Rhodospirillaceae
PubMed: 36148990
DOI: 10.3201/eid2810.220326 -
Microorganisms Jul 2021Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and metagenomics revolutionized our capacity for analysis and identification of the microbial communities in complex samples. The...
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and metagenomics revolutionized our capacity for analysis and identification of the microbial communities in complex samples. The existence of a blood microbiome in healthy individuals has been confirmed by sequencing, but some researchers suspect that this is a cell-free circulating DNA in blood, while others have had isolated a limited number of bacterial and fungal species by culture. It is not clear what part of the blood microbiota could be resuscitated and cultured. Here, we quantitatively measured the culturable part of blood microbiota of healthy individuals by testing a medium supplemented with a high concentration of vitamin K (1 mg/mL) and culturing at 43 °C for 24 h. We applied targeted sequencing of 16S rDNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) markers on cultured and non-cultured blood samples from 28 healthy individuals. Dominant bacterial phyla among non-cultured samples were Proteobacteria 92.97%, Firmicutes 2.18%, Actinobacteria 1.74% and Planctomycetes 1.55%, while among cultured samples Proteobacteria were 47.83%, Firmicutes 25.85%, Actinobacteria 16.42%, Bacteroidetes 3.48%, Cyanobacteria 2.74%, and Fusobacteria 1.53%. Fungi phyla Basidiomycota, Ascomycota, and unidentified fungi were 65.08%, 17.72%, and 17.2% respectively among non-cultured samples, while among cultured samples they were 58.08%, 21.72%, and 20.2% respectively. In cultured and non-cultured samples we identified 241 OTUs belonging to 40 bacterial orders comprising 66 families and 105 genera. Fungal biodiversity accounted for 272 OTUs distributed in 61 orders, 105 families, and 133 genera. Bacterial orders that remained non-cultured, compared to blood microbiota isolated from fresh blood collection, were Sphingomonadales, Rhizobiales, and Rhodospirillales. Species of orders Bacillales, Lactobacillales, and Corynebacteriales showed the best cultivability. Fungi orders Tremellales, Polyporales, and Filobasidiales were mostly unculturable. Species of fungi orders Pleosporales, Saccharomycetales, and Helotiales were among the culturable ones. In this study, we quantified the capacity of a specific medium applied for culturing of blood microbiota in healthy individuals. Other culturing conditions and media should be tested for optimization and better characterization of blood microbiota in healthy and diseased individuals.
PubMed: 34361900
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9071464 -
Active degradation-nitrification microbial assemblages in the hypoxic zone in a subtropical estuary.The Science of the Total Environment Dec 2023In 2017 summer, we observed widespread bottom hypoxia at the lower estuary of the Pearl River estuary (PRE). Our previous study noticed that AOA and bacteria were highly...
In 2017 summer, we observed widespread bottom hypoxia at the lower estuary of the Pearl River estuary (PRE). Our previous study noticed that AOA and bacteria were highly abundant and clustered within the hypoxia zone. Moreover, nitrification and respiration rates were also evidently higher in these hypoxic waters. These observations prompt us to investigate whether these two oxygen-consuming microorganisms have symbiotic relationships and whether specific groups consistently coexist and form ecological-meaningful associations. In this study, we use network analysis to investigate the presence and active communities (DNA-RNA) based on bacterial and AOA communities sequencing (inferred from the 16S rRNA and amoA gene, respectively) to gain more insight into ecological-meaningful associations. We observed a highly diverse and active bacterial community in the hypoxia zone. The RNA networks were more modulized than the corresponding DNA networks, indicating that the active communities were better parsed into functional microbial assemblages. The network topology revealed that Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes (Flavobacteriales), Alphaproteobacteria (Rhodobacterales and Rhodospirillales), Marinimicrobia, Cyanobacteria (Synechococcales), and AOA sublineages were module hubs and connectors, indicating that they were the keystone taxa of the microbial communities. The hub-subnetwork further showed robust co-occurrence between Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes (Flavobacteriales), Alphaproteobacteria (Rhodobacterales and Rhodospirillales), Marinimicrobia with AOA sublineages, and Nitrospinae (presumably NOB) reflecting the formation of Degradation-Nitrification (sequential oxidation of Organic matter degradation to ammonia, then nitrate) microbial assemblage in the hypoxia zone. The subnetworks revealed AOA ecotype-specific modularization and niche partitioning of different AOA sublineages. Interestingly, the recurring co-occurrence of nitrifiers assemblage in the RNA subnetworks (SCM1-like-II (AOA) and Nitrospinae OTUs (NOB) suggests an active interaction via nitrite exchange. The Degradation-Nitrification microbial assemblage may contribute substantially to the oxygen consumption in the hypoxia formation in PRE. Our results provide new insight into the functional microbial assemblages, which is worth further investigation on their ecological implication in estuarine waters.
Topics: Humans; Archaea; Nitrification; Estuaries; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Bacteria; Oxidation-Reduction; Ammonia; DNA; Hypoxia; Phylogeny; Soil Microbiology
PubMed: 37660824
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166694