1,721,125 research outputs found
Is precision microbiome medicine just around the corner?: Gut microbiota
No full textA study in Nature Medicine developed a new clinical test based on a gut metagenome-derived multispecies biomarker panel for the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease, which outperformed faecal calprotectin. Shortly after, a study in Cell identified a health-relevant network-based core microbiome that could substantially advance precision microbiome medicine
Urbanization and Its Effects on Microbiota
No full textIn recent years, increasing attention has been paid to understanding changes in the gut microbiota as a result of progressive urbanization and industrialization, as these may underlie the increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases (e.g., metabolic, cardiovascular, respiratory, mental and oncological). Comparison with traditional communities showed, as expected, a series of potentially dysbiotic traits, such as reduced diversity, reduced proportions of beneficial microorganisms (generally fiber degraders), and overrepresentation of genes conferring antibiotic resistance and those involved in xenobiotic metabolism. Although it is not known whether these alterations are completely reversible, measures to prevent further changes should be considered, including revisiting our lifestyle, increasing the amount of dietary fiber, and replenishing essential ancestral taxa, as paleomicrobiology studies are now revealing
Editorial: Remodeling Composition and Function of Microbiome by Dietary Strategies - Functional Foods Perspective
Full text linkMicrobes inhabiting the human gastrointestinal tract have been under the spotlight during the last
decade, given the multiple associations detected between specific microbiota profiles and health
status. Diet is widely recognized as the primary environmental variable shaping the intestinal
microbiota in humans. Therefore, the study of diet-microbiota-host interactions deserves special
attention to provide clues to several diseases, including cognitive, metabolic, and immune ones. In
a similar manner, the investigation of the molecular cross-talk between host cells and microbes
in a particular nutritional environment also serves as the foundation for design of innovative
therapeutic strategies based on probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics. For instance, a recent
investigation based on resistant starch suggests that discrete dietary fiber structures can be used to
target the production of short-chain fatty acids (1), the major microbiota-derived effector molecules
known to have a wide range of action on host health (2). On the other hand, the gut microbiota has
been disclosed to modulate the effect of dietary fiber on host health, supporting the notion that there
is no one-fits-all diet in the way to seek cost-effective nutritional strategies for health improvement
and weight control (3). Anyhow, consensual benefits for human health in microbiota-targeted
dietary interventions are still perceived, pointing out, for instance, fermented foods as attenuators
of inflammation, and modulators of gut microbiota (4).
The aim of the Frontiers in Nutrition Research Topic (RT) “Remodeling Composition and
Function of Microbiome by Dietary Strategies—Functional Foods Perspective” was to assemble
clinical and pre-clinical studies deciphering the microbiome-driven effects on human health
of innovative functional foods based on probiotics, prebiotics or synbiotics, as well as dietary
supplements. We provide an overview of this RT, including five original research articles and two
review articles
From Whole Genome Shotgun Sequencing to Viral Community Profiling: The ViromeScan Tool
No full textViromeScan is an innovative metagenomic analysis tool that allows characterizing the taxonomy of viral communities from raw data of metagenomics sequencing, efficiently denoising samples from reads of other microorganisms. This means that users can use the same shotgun metagenomic sequencing data to fully characterize complex microbial ecosystems, including bacteria and viruses. Here we describe the analysis procedure with some examples, illustrating the processes computed by ViromeScan from raw data to the final output
Gut microbiota and physical activity: Is there an evidence-based link?
No full textThe gut microbiota appears to be a significant contributor to musculoskeletal health and disease. Genetic background, age, gender, diet, lifestyle and socio-economic aspects are also important factors that contribute to musculoskeletal health, as well as to the normal balance of the intestinal microbiota. Through the production of a large and diverse pool of bioactive small molecules, the gut microbiota can in fact signal to extra-intestinal organs, establishing a systems-level connection with the host metabolic, endocrine, immune and nervous apparatus. The gut microbiota has therefore been extensively studied in recent years, for health promotion, disease prevention and disease treatment, as well as for exercise performance. Practically, physical activity is recommended as a useful tool to prevent disease and improve prognosis when an athlete gets sick or injured. Therefore, the findings of studies performed on athletes should not be automatically transferred to all subjects undertaking non-competitive exercise
Editorial: Nutritional modulation of central nervous system development, maintenance, plasticity, and recovery
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Age-related diseases, therapies and gut microbiome: A new frontier for healthy aging
No full textThe gut microbiome is undoubtedly a key modulator of human health, which can promote or impair homeostasis throughout life. This is even more relevant in old age, when there is a gradual loss of function in multiple organ systems, related to growth, metabolism, and immunity. Several studies have described changes in the gut microbiome across age groups up to the extreme limits of lifespan, including maladaptations that occur in the context of age-related conditions, such as frailty, neurodegenerative diseases, and cardiometabolic diseases. The gut microbiome can also interact bi-directionally with anti-age-related disease therapies, being affected and in turn influencing their efficacy. In this framework, the development of integrated microbiome-based intervention strategies, aimed at favoring a eubiotic configuration and trajectory, could therefore represent an innovative approach for the promotion of healthy aging and the achievement of longevity
Gut microbiota in relation to frailty and clinical outcomes
Full text linkPurpose of reviewThe gut microbiota is involved in several aspects of host health and disease, but its role is far from fully understood. This review aims to unveil the role of our microbial community in relation to frailty and clinical outcomes.Recent findingsAgeing, that is the continuous process of physiological changes that begin in early adulthood, is mainly driven by interactions between biotic and environmental factors, also involving the gut microbiota. Indeed, our gut microbial counterpart undergoes considerable compositional and functional changes across the lifespan, and ageing-related processes may be responsible for - and due to - its alterations during elderhood. In particular, a dysbiotic gut microbiota in the elderly population has been associated with the development and progression of several age-related disorders.SummaryHere, we first provide an overview of the lifespan trajectory of the gut microbiota in both health and disease. Then, we specifically focus on the relationship between gut microbiota and frailty syndrome, that is one of the major age-related burdens. Finally, examples of microbiome-based precision interventions, mainly dietary, prebiotic and probiotic ones, are discussed as tools to ameliorate the symptoms of frailty and its overlapping conditions (e.g. sarcopenia), with the ultimate goal of actually contributing to healthy ageing and hopefully promoting longevity
The human microbiomes in pancreatic cancer: Towards evidence-based manipulation strategies?
Full text linkRecent pieces of evidence have emerged on the relevance of microorganisms in modulating responses to anticancer treatments and reshaping the tumor-immune microenvironment. On the one hand, many studies have addressed the role of the gut microbiota, providing interesting correlative findings with respect to etiopathogenesis and treatment responses. On the other hand, intra-tumoral bacteria are being recognized as intrinsic and essential components of the cancer microenvironment, able to promote a plethora of tumor-related aspects from cancer growth to resistance to chemotherapy. These elements will be probably more and more valuable in the coming years in early diagnosis and risk stratification. Furthermore, microbial-targeted intervention strategies may be used as adjuvants to current therapies to improve therapeutic responses and overall survival. This review focuses on new insights and therapeutic approaches that are dawning against pancreatic cancer: a neoplasm that arises in a central metabolic “hub” interfaced between the gut and the host
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