Microbiome
-
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the enveloped RNA virus SARS-CoV-2 primarily affects the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. SARS-CoV-2 was isolated from fecal samples, and active viral replication was reported in human intestinal cells. The human gut also harbors an enormous amount of resident viruses (collectively known as the virome) that play a role in regulating host immunity and disease pathophysiology. Understanding gut virome perturbation that underlies SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity is an unmet need. ⋯ Both enteric RNA and DNA virome in COVID-19 patients were different from non-COVID-19 subjects, which persisted after disease resolution of COVID-19. Gut virome may calibrate host immunity and regulate severity to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our observation that gut viruses inversely correlated with both severity of COVID-19 and host age may partly explain that older subjects are prone to severe and worse COVID-19 outcomes. Altogether, our data highlight the importance of human gut virome in severity and potentially therapeutics of COVID-19. Video Abstract.
-
The gut microbiota plays a central role in host physiology and in several pathological mechanisms in humans. Antibiotics compromise the composition and functions of the gut microbiota inducing long-lasting detrimental effects on the host. Recent studies suggest that the efficacy of different clinical therapies depends on the action of the gut microbiota. Here, we investigated how different antibiotic treatments affect the ability of the gut microbiota to control intestinal inflammation upon fecal microbiota transplantation in an experimental colitis model and in ex vivo experiments with human intestinal biopsies. ⋯ Diverse antibiotic regimens affect the ability of the gut microbiota to control intestinal inflammation in experimental colitis by altering the microbial community structure and microbiota-derived metabolites. Video Abstract.
-
Normal mammalian development and homeostasis are dependent upon the gut microbiota. Antibiotics, essential for the treatment and prophylaxis of bacterial infections, can have collateral effects on the gut microbiota composition, which can in turn have far-reaching and potentially deleterious consequences for the host. However, the magnitude and duration of such collateral effects appear to vary between individuals. Furthermore, the degree to which such perturbations affect the host response is currently unclear. We aimed to test the hypothesis that different human microbiomes have different responses to a commonly prescribed antibiotic and that these differences may impact the host response. ⋯ Germ-free mice humanized by different donor microbiotas maintain distinct microbiome profiles, which respond in distinct ways to antibiotic challenge and evince host responses that parallel microbiome disequilibrium. These results suggest that inter-individual variation in the gut microbiota may contribute to personalized host responses following microbiota perturbation.
-
The microbial populations of the human intestinal tract and their relationship to specific diseases have been extensively studied during the last decade. However, the characterization of the human bile microbiota as a whole has been hampered by difficulties in accessing biological samples and the lack of adequate methodologies to assess molecular studies. Although a few reports have described the biliary microbiota in some hepatobiliary diseases, the bile microbiota of healthy individuals has not been described. With this in mind, the goal of the present study was to generate fundamental knowledge on the composition and activity of the human bile microbiota, as well as establishing its potential relationship with human bile-related disorders. ⋯ Our results indicate that the gallbladder of human individuals, without diagnosed hepatobiliary pathology, harbors a microbial ecosystem that is described for the first time in this study. Its bacterial representatives and metabolites are different from those detected in people suffering from cholelithiasis. In this regard, since liver donors have been subjected to the specific conditions of the hospital's intensive care unit, including an antibiotic treatment, we must be cautious in stating that their bile samples contain a physiologically normal biliary microbiome. In any case, our results open up new possibilities to discover bacterial functions in a microbial ecosystem that has not previously been explored.
-
Otitis media (OM) imposes a great burden of disease in indigenous populations around the world, despite a variety of treatment and prevention programs. Improved understanding of the pathogenesis of OM in indigenous populations is required to advance treatment and reduce prevalence. We conducted a systematic review of the literature exploring the upper airway and middle ear microbiota in relation to OM in indigenous children. ⋯ There are high rates of otopathogen colonization in indigenous children with OM. Chronic suppurative OM appears to be associated with a different microbial profile. Beyond the main otopathogens, the data are limited. Further research is required to explore the entire upper respiratory tract/middle ear microbiota in relation to OM, with the inclusion of healthy indigenous peers as controls.