Tag Archives: polio

Microbiome Digest, August 1, 2014

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Microbiome composition and vaccine response or chemotherapy, cassava beer, two nice articles about metagenomics tools and contamination, and the weekend picks.

Human gut microbiome

Stool Microbiota and Vaccine Responses of Infants – M. Nazmul Huda – Pediatrics

“Actinobacteria abundance was positively associated with T-cell responses to BCG, OPV, and TT; with the delayed-type hypersensitivity response; with immunoglobulin G responses; and with TI. B longum subspecies infantis correlated positively with TI and several vaccine responses. “

Systematic review: the role of the gut microbiota in chemotherapy- or radiation-induced gastrointestinal mucositis – current evidence and potential clinical applications – Y. Touchefeu – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

“Search of the literature published in English using Medline, Scopus and the Cochrane Library, with main search terms ‘intestinal microbiota’, ‘bacteremia’, ‘mucositis’, ‘chemotherapy-induced diarrhoea’, ‘chemotherapy-induced mucositis’, ‘radiotherapy-induced mucositis’.”

Food microbiology

Local domestication of lactic acid bacteria via cassava beer fermentation – Alese M. Colehour – PeerJ

“Bacteria responsible for chicha fermentation could be a source of microbes for the human microbiome, but little is known regarding the microbiology of chicha. “

Microbes in the News

It’s a bit – eh – graphic, but a nice overview of science and the people working in this field. I wish it would have contained a couple of pictures of non-pregnant women though. It feels as if we are only a vessel:  The Body’s Ecosystem – The Scientist

“Research on the human microbiome is booming, and scientists have moved from simply taking stock of gut flora to understanding the influence of microbes throughout the body.”

‘I’m not fat, it’s viral’ – Phage found in gut bacteria may aid obesity – Dan Stanton 0 Biopharma Reporter

“A newly discovered virus which infects intestinal bacteria might be a cause of obesity, but could increasing interest in bacteriophages drive new personalised medicines and alternatives to antibiotics?”

Diet Must be Different for Men and Women: Study – Soumo Ghosh – International Business Times

“The researchers found that the microscopic bacteria, or other such organism housed inside the human stomach are different in the case of men and women. Hence, they believe that the same diet for both may not have the same effect in them.”

Metabolomics

Emergent Biosynthetic Capacity in Simple Microbial Communities – Hsuan-Chao Chiu – PLOS Computational Biology

“Here we present a comprehensive computational framework, integrating high-quality metabolic models of multiple species, temporal dynamics, and flux variability analysis, to study the metabolic capacity and dynamics of simple two-species microbial ecosystems.”

Metagenomics

Metagenomics Mash-Up – Kelly Rae Chi – The Scientist

“The Scientist spoke with developers of tools for parsing genomic data from diverse communities of microorganisms. Here are some of the newest strategies and programs for taxonomic, functional, and comparative analyses.”

Microbial detection

Who are the contaminants in your sequencing project? – Jonathan Eisen – MicrobeNet

“Such amplification is alas pretty common – due to contamination occurring in some other material added to the PCR reaction. “

Science and publishing

The Self-Edited Woman – Paige Brown – SciLogs International

“Un-prompted, several young female science bloggers I’ve interviewed mention having blogged anonymously in the past, being self-conscious about expressing their expertise on a topic, or avoiding certain topics because of the nasty comments they might receive. “

Bik’s Picks

We have the science to build an Ebola vaccine. So why hasn’t it happened? – Sarah Kliff – Vox

“This isn’t how an Ebola outbreak has to work. Researchers have devoted lots of time to building a vaccine that could stop the disease altogether — and according to Daniel Bausch, a Tulane professor who researches Ebola and other infectious diseases, they’re making really significant progress.”

Littering and Following the Crowd – Vivian Wagner – The Atlantic

“Why it’s so tempting to throw trash on the ground, and how environmentalists are using psychology to change that”

F.D.A. Acts on Lab Tests Developed In-House – Andrew Pollack – The New York Times

“The Food and Drug Administration announced on Thursday that it would start regulating medical laboratory testing, saying that tests used to make important treatment decisions must be vetted and validated before they go into use.”

Grad Student Freed By Police After Three Years Trapped In The Same Experiment – The Allium

“He is thought to have survived by eating printouts of PloS One papers and drinking his own tears.”

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General microbiology and science, July 16

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Comparison of 1700 metagenomes,  $125,000 to study 100 trillion bacteria, arsenic speciation, and the Seinfeld “double dipping” videoclip.

General microbiome and metagenome

Metagenome exploringExploring Neighborhoods in the Metagenome Universe – Kathrin P. Aßhauer – International Journal of Molecular Sciences

“Our evaluation on more than 1700 publicly available metagenomes indicates that for a query metagenome from a particular habitat on average nine out of ten nearest neighbors represent the same habitat category independent of the utilized profiling method or distance measure. “

UMass Cancer Avatar Institute, Center for Microbiome Research backed by UMass president

“Beth McCormick, PhD, professor of microbiology & physiological systems, was also awarded $125,000 to develop the Center for Microbiome Research, envisioned as a center of research and education for the microbiome, the ecosystem of the 100 trillion bacteria in the human body.”

Dengue virus

Endothelial Cells in Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever – Anon Srikiatkhachorn – Antiviral Research

“In this review we summarize dengue viruses and the spectrum of human disease and highlight evidence of endothelial cell dysfunction in DHF based on studies in patients and mouse and tissue culture models. “

Dengue fever and bone marrow myelofibrosis – Xin Qing – Experimental and Molecular Pathology

“We report the first case to our knowledge of myelofibrosis associated with dengue fever. We briefly describe dengue infections and hypothesize the causes of myelofibrosis in this condition.”

African genetic ancestry is associated with a protective effect on Dengue severity in colombian populations – Juan C. Chacón-Duque – Infection, Genetics and Evolution

“We found that African ancestry has a protective effect against severe outcomes under several systems of clinical classification”

Conference abstract: Longitudinal Analysis Of Dengue Fever Infections Reported In The Uk Betwen 2002 – 2013 Using The Health Improvement Network (Thin) Primary Care Database – D Ansell – Value in Health

Polio virus

Comment: Infectious disease: Polio eradication hinges on child health in Pakistan – Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta – Nature

“Last year, only 406 cases were reported, with 160 of them in just a few areas of the three countries where polio remains endemic”

Microbes in the news

Gut feeling: How intestinal bacteria may influence our moods – Sharon Oosthoek – CBC News

“Dr. Emeran Mayer, a gastroenterologist at University of California, Los Angeles, is a self-described sceptic, but admits “there is enough there to make me think some of the findings from animal studies can be extrapolated to humans.””

#BacteriaHysteria: Double-dipping spreads bacteria. But does it get people sick? (with the famous Seinfeld clip) – Joseph Stromberg – Vox.com

“Many people believe that dipping a chip into a shared bowl of drip, taking a bite, and dipping again — termed “double-dipping” in a 1993 episode of Seinfeld — is an abhorrently unsanitary practice. Others, like George Costanza, think this aversion is unscientific, and there’s actually no harm in double-dipping at all.”

Sizing up bacteria – Peter Reuell – Harvard Gazette

“A new theoretical framework outlined by a Harvard scientist could help solve the mystery of how bacterial cells coordinate processes that are critical to cellular division, such as DNA replication, and how bacteria know when to divide.”

Chilling new details on cold-storage smallpox – Hoai-Tran Bui and Alison Young, USA TODAY

Arsenic metabolism

arsenicComplementary Arsenic Speciation Methods: A Review – Michelle M. Nearing – Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy

“The toxicity of arsenic greatly depends on its chemical form and oxidation state (speciation) and therefore accurate determination of arsenic speciation is a crucial step in understanding its chemistry and potential risk.”

Science, ethics and publishing

Should Research Fraud be a Crime? A Reader Poll – Ed Silverman – Wall Street Journal

“A researcher may lose a job or stature, but should there be more serious consequences, such as criminal liability? A debate between two academics in BMJ, the British Medical Journal, explores the yin and yang surrounding this question.“

Dr. Bik’s Picks

Great title! IgG walkingIgGs are made for walking on bacterial and viral surfaces – Johannes Preiner – Nature Communications

“Here we utilize high-speed atomic force microscopy to examine the dynamics of antibody recognition and uncover a principle; antibodies do not remain stationary on surfaces of regularly spaced epitopes; they rather exhibit ‘bipedal’ stochastic walking”

Microbiome and general science digest, July 11

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Most recent results from American gut, a metagenomics pipeline, arsenic toxicity, polio and dengue vaccines, and pregnancy urine metabolomics to predict preterm birth.

Human gut microbiome

American GutAmerican Gut releases latest results and pipeline – Jeff Leach – American Gut

“The latest American Gut results are out and we’re very excited to share them with the American Gut community. We now have sequencing and analysis data from 3,238 participants, and as of today, this data equates to 101 million DNA sequences and 27 gigabytes of sequencing information.”

Screen shot 2014-07-11 at 04.27PM, Jul 11Place of upbringing in early childhood as related to inflammatory bowel diseases in adulthood: a population-based cohort study in Northern Europe – Signe Timm – European Journal of Epidemiology

“This study suggests a protective effect from livestock farm living in early childhood on the occurrence of IBD in adulthood, however only among subjects born after 1952. We speculate that lower microbial diversity is an explanation for the findings.”

Pregnancy and birth

Urinary pretermUrinary metabolic profiles in early pregnancy are associated with preterm birth and fetal growth restriction in the Rhea mother–child cohort study – Léa Maitre – BMC Medicine

“Here we used an exploratory metabolic profiling approach (metabolomics) to investigate the association between birth outcomes and metabolites in maternal urine collected early in pregnancy as part of the prospective mother–child cohort Rhea study. “

Metagenomics

MedusaMetagenomic Data Utilization and Analysis (MEDUSA) and Construction of a Global Gut Microbial Gene Catalogue – Fredrik H. Karlsson, Intawat Nookaew, Jens Nielsen – PLOS Computational Biology

“Here we present the bioinformatics pipeline MEDUSA that facilitates analysis of metagenomic reads at the gene and taxonomic level. We also constructed a global human gut microbial gene catalogue by combining data from 4 studies spanning 3 continents. “

Proteomics

Proteomics Staph aureusGenomics and Proteomics Provide New Insight into the Commensal and Pathogenic Lifestyles of Bovine and Human-associated Staphylococcus epidermidis strains – Kirsi Savijoki – Journal of Proteome Research

“Pilot experimental infection studies indicated that while ATCC12228 was able to infect bovine host, the PM221 strain caused more severe clinical signs. “

Dengue

Demanou DengueEvidence of Dengue Virus Transmission and Factors Associated with the Presence of Anti-Dengue Virus Antibodies in Humans in Three Major Towns in Cameroon – Maurice Demanou – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

“Sera were screened for anti-dengue virus IgG and IgM antibodies. Risk factors of seropositivity were tested using logistic regression methods with random effects.”

Carrasco DenguePredictive Tools for Severe Dengue Conforming to World Health Organization 2009 Criteria – Luis R. Carrasco – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

“Higher risk of severe dengue (SD) was associated with female gender, lower than normal hematocrit level, abdominal distension, vomiting and fever on admission. “

Infection and host response

Screen shot 2014-07-11 at 03.35PM, Jul 11Development of Fatal Intestinal Inflammation in MyD88 Deficient Mice Co-infected with Helminth and Bacterial Enteropathogens – Libo Su – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

“We found that MyD88 knockout mice co-infected with H. polygyrus and C. rodentium developed more severe intestinal inflammation and elevated mortality compared to the wild-type mice.”‘

Screen shot 2014-07-11 at 04.28PM, Jul 11Distinct Lipid A Moieties Contribute to Pathogen-Induced Site-Specific Vascular Inflammation – Connie Slocum – PLOS Pathogens

“our results point to a pivotal role for activation of the non-canonical inflammasome in P. gingivalis infection and demonstrate that P. gingivalis evades immune detection at TLR4 facilitating chronic inflammation in the vasculature. “

Dengue

Dengue vaccine lancetClinical efficacy and safety of a novel tetravalent dengue vaccine in healthy children in Asia: a phase 3, randomised, observer-masked, placebo-controlled trial – Maria Rosario Capeding – The Lancet

“Our findings show that dengue vaccine is efficacious when given as three injections at months 0, 6, and 12 to children aged 2–14 years in endemic areas in Asia, and has a good safety profile. “

Also see comment: Dengue vaccines: dawning at last? – Annelies Wilder-Smith – The Lancet

Poliovirus

Jacob John polioEffect of a single inactivated poliovirus vaccine dose on intestinal immunity against poliovirus in children previously given oral vaccine: an open-label, randomised controlled trial – Jacob John – The Lancet

“The substantial boost in intestinal immunity conferred by a supplementary dose of IPV given to children younger than 5 years who had previously received OPV shows a potential role for this vaccine in immunisation activities to accelerate eradication and prevent outbreaks of poliomyelitis.”

Also see comment: Polio endgame management: focusing on performance with or without inactivated poliovirus vaccine – Kimberly M Thompson – The Lancet

Microbes in the News

Screen shot 2014-07-11 at 04.28PM, Jul 11 1How Gross Is Your Phone? A Motherboard Science Experiment – Jason Koebler – Motherboard

“All I wanted to do was recreate a relatively simple study I had just written about. Instead, I ended up creating something vaguely dangerous, which mortified the director of a local DIY biology lab. Here’s what happens when you perform experiments on your coworkers.”

Arsenic metabolism

Screen shot 2014-07-11 at 04.29PM, Jul 11Lung tumors in mice induced by “whole-life” inorganic arsenic exposure at human-relevant doses – Michael P. Waalkes – Archives of Toxicology

“Breeder male and female CD1 mice were exposed to 0, 50, 500 or 5,000 ppb arsenic (as sodium arsenite) in the drinking water for 3 weeks prior to breeding, during pregnancy and lactation, and after weaning (at week 3) groups of male and female offspring (initial n = 40) were exposed for up to 2 years.”

Dr. Bik’s Picks

Scorpions are master architects, according to new research – Science Daily

“The burrows made by scorpions follow a very sophisticated design, beginning with a short, vertical entrance shaft that flattened out a few centimeters below the surface into a horizontal platform, new research has found.”

Beach Sand Used To Make A Battery That Lasts Three Times Longer – Douglas Main – Popular Science

“Sink your toes into this: Beach sand can be used to make lithium-ion batteries that last three times longer than current models, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.”

World Now “A Safer Place”, thanks to creation of Potential Pandemic Virus – The Allium

“Yes, I get your point that they could potentially kill millions of people and hospitalise millions more, causing untold human suffering and extraordinary economic damage, but think of all the advantages to the creation of these bugs”.

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Human microbiome, July 8

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Female urinary microbiome, stool microbiome and vaccine responses, and gut microbiome in ulcerative colitis patients.

Urinary tract

The Female Urinary Microbiome: a Comparison of Women with and without Urgency Urinary Incontinence – Meghan M. Pearce – mBio

“In this study, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to classify bacterial DNA and expanded quantitative urine culture (EQUC) techniques to isolate live bacteria in urine collected by using a transurethral catheter from women with UUI and, in comparison, a cohort without UUI. “

Gut microbiome

Stool Microbiota and Vaccine Responses of Infants – M. Nazmul Huda – Pediatrics

“Bifidobacterium predominance may enhance thymic development and responses to both oral and parenteral vaccines early in infancy”

Novel Gut-Based Pharmacology of Metformin in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus – Antonella Napolitano – PLOS ONE

“Microbiota abundance of the phylum Firmicutes was positively correlated with changes in cholic acid and conjugates, while Bacteroidetes abundance was negatively correlated.”

This one was already published online in September 2013 but it came out in print this week : Commentary: Roseburia hominis: a novel guilty player in ulcerative colitis pathogenesis – Herbert Tilg – Gut

“In recent years evidence was accumulating that the gut microbiota and its manipulation might constitute one of those relevant ‘environmental’ factors. “

A decrease of the butyrate-producing species Roseburia hominis and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii defines dysbiosis in patients with ulcerative colitis – Kathleen Machiels – Gut

“The composition of the fecal microbiota of UC patients differs from that of healthy individuals: we found a reduction in R hominis and F prausnitzii, both well-known butyrate-producing bacteria of the Firmicutes phylum. “

Pregnancy and birth

Direct Evidence for the Presence of Human Milk Oligosaccharides in the Circulation of Breastfed Infants – Karen C. Goehring – PLOS ONE

“At least some ingested HMOs are absorbed intact into the circulation and excreted in the urine and their concentrations in these fluids correlate with levels of the corresponding mother’s milk”

Commentary: More than a gut feeling: predicting surgical necrotising enterocolitis – Jörn-Hendrik Weitkamp – Gut

“The paper by Sylvester et al 8 describes a new non-invasive approach of combining clinical data and selected urine peptide biomarkers to develop an algorithm to predict progression of suspected medical NEC to surgical disease. “

refers to: A novel urine peptide biomarker-based algorithm for the prognosis of necrotising enterocolitis in human infants – Karl G Sylvester – Gut

“Ensemble modelling combining clinical parameters with biomarker analysis dramatically improves our ability to identify the population at risk for developing progressive NEC.”

Animal models

Host Responses to the Pathogen Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis and Beneficial Microbes Exhibit Host Sex Specificity – Enusha Karunasena – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

“The differences observed suggest that male and female gut tissues and microbiota respond to newly introduced microorganisms differently and that gut-associated microorganisms with host immune system responses and metabolic activity are supported by biology distinct to the host sex.”

General human microbiome

Phylogenetics and the human microbiome – Frederick A Matsen IV – Submitted to Systematic Biology

“In this paper I review the field and its methods from the perspective of a phylogeneticist, as well as describing current challenges for phylogenetics coming from this type of work.”

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General microbiology and science, June 12

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A whale with graffiti and morbillivirus, polio eradication, it’s fun to be a grad student, and Dr. Bik’s Picks.

Marine Mammals

grafwhaleGraffiti tagged A.C. whale died of dolphin-killer morbillivirus – Amy S. Rosenberg – The Inquirer

“Schoelkopf said the virus last summer was primarily found in bottle-nosed dolphins but that there was some inter-species crossover, including two humpback whales, a pygmy sperm whale and striped dolphins.”

austsealionPinnipednesday – Neophoca cinerea Edition – Mythbri – ObservationDeck

“It’s believed that the feces of Australian Sea Lions provide valuable nutrients to the local ecosystem. The bacteria found in the feces is very efficient in breaking down the waste into forms that are easily absorbed by coastal ecosystems.”

Phages and viruses

SciencePolio eradicators struggle to prevent the next outbreak – Leslie Roberts – Science

“But in 2013, the virus jumped borders and set off outbreaks in eight countries that had already eliminated it, sending cases soaring to 407. Now, by creating a “Red List,” the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is trying to predict where future outbreaks will occur—and prevent them.”

Science careers

fungradThe fun of science – Cathy Walker – Science

“Recently, I was reminded that my job as a graduate student in a science lab is actually “really cool.” I was in need of a reminder. “

Dr. Bik’s Picks

dinosEvidence for mesothermy in dinosaurs – John M. Grady – Science

“Moreover, when the effects of size and temperature are considered, dinosaur metabolic rates were intermediate to those of endotherms and ectotherms and closest to those of extant mesotherms. Our results suggest that the modern dichotomy of endothermic versus ectothermic is overly simplistic.”

bromineChemical element bromine is essential to life in humans and other animals, researchers discover – ScienceDaily

“The researchers, led by co-first authors Scott McCall, Christopher Cummings, Ph.D., and Gautam (Jay) Bhave, M.D., Ph.D., showed that fruit flies died when bromine was removed from their diet but survived when bromine was restored.”

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