Controlled Hookworm Infection for Medication-free Maintenance in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: A Pilot, Double-blind, Randomized Control Trial

BackgroundHuman hookworm has been proposed as a treatment for ulcerative colitis (UC). This pilot study assessed the feasibility of a full-scale randomized control trial examining hookworm to maintain clinical remission in patients with UC.MethodsTwenty patients with UC in disease remission (Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index [SCCAI] ≤4 and fecal calprotectin (fCal) <100 ug/g) and only… Continue reading Controlled Hookworm Infection for Medication-free Maintenance in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: A Pilot, Double-blind, Randomized Control Trial

Excess dietary sugar alters colonocyte metabolism and impairs the proliferative response to damage

BackgroundThe colonic epithelium requires continuous renewal by crypt resident intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and transit amplifying (TA) cells to maintain barrier integrity, especially after inflammatory damage. The diet of high-income countries contains increasing amounts of sugar, such as sucrose. ISCs and TA cells are sensitive to dietary metabolites, but whether excess sugar affects their function… Continue reading Excess dietary sugar alters colonocyte metabolism and impairs the proliferative response to damage

Analysis of Body Mass Index in Early and Middle Adulthood and Estimated Risk of Gastrointestinal Cancer

Importance  In a population with significantly increasing rates of individuals with overweight or obesity, understanding the association of obesity with long-term disease risk, such as cancer, is necessary to improve public health.Objective  To investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and gastrointestinal (GI) cancer risk (colorectal cancer [CRC] and noncolorectal GI cancer) in the Prostate, Lung,… Continue reading Analysis of Body Mass Index in Early and Middle Adulthood and Estimated Risk of Gastrointestinal Cancer

Gut microbiome dysbiosis across early Parkinson’s disease, REM sleep behavior disorder and their first-degree relatives

The microbiota-gut-brain axis has been suggested to play an important role in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Here we performed a cross-sectional study to profile gut microbiota across early PD, REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), first-degree relatives of RBD (RBD-FDR), and healthy controls, which could reflect the gut-brain staging model of PD. We show gut microbiota compositions… Continue reading Gut microbiome dysbiosis across early Parkinson’s disease, REM sleep behavior disorder and their first-degree relatives

Gut microbiome-wide association study of depressive symptoms

Depression is one of the most poorly understood diseases due to its elusive pathogenesis. There is an urgency to identify molecular and biological mechanisms underlying depression and the gut microbiome is a novel area of interest. Here we investigate the relation of fecal microbiome diversity and composition with depressive symptoms in 1,054 participants from the… Continue reading Gut microbiome-wide association study of depressive symptoms

The gut microbiota in multiple sclerosis varies with disease activity

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic immune-mediated disease of the brain and spinal cord resulting in physical and cognitive impairment in young adults. It is hypothesized that a disrupted bacterial and viral gut microbiota is a part of the pathogenesis mediating disease impact through an altered gut microbiota-brain axis. The aim of this study is to… Continue reading The gut microbiota in multiple sclerosis varies with disease activity

Lifestyle factors for the prevention of inflammatory bowel disease

Objective To estimate the proportion of cases of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) that could be prevented by modifiable lifestyle factors.Design In a prospective cohort study of US adults from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS; n=72 290), NHSII (n=93 909) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS; n=41 871), we created modifiable risk scores (MRS; 0–6) for CD and… Continue reading Lifestyle factors for the prevention of inflammatory bowel disease

Mobile genetic elements from the maternal microbiome shape infant gut microbial assembly and metabolism

The perinatal period represents a critical window for cognitive and immune system development, promoted by maternal and infant gut microbiomes and their metabolites. Here, we tracked the co-development of microbiomes and metabolomes from late pregnancy to 1 year of age using longitudinal multi-omics data from a cohort of 70 mother-infant dyads. We discovered large-scale mother-to-infant… Continue reading Mobile genetic elements from the maternal microbiome shape infant gut microbial assembly and metabolism

Efficacy of probiotics in the management of halitosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Halitosis is defined as a foul odour emitted from the oral cavity. Many interventions have been used to control halitosis from mouthwashes to chewing gums. Probiotics have been reported as an alternative method to alleviate halitosis.Objective The present study aimed to investigate the effect of probiotics on halitosis from a time perspective.Design and methods This is a… Continue reading Efficacy of probiotics in the management of halitosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis