0000000000004617
AUTHOR
M. Pilar Francino
showing 12 related works from this author
An extended reconstruction of human gut microbiota metabolism for personalized nutrition
2020
ABSTRACTUnderstanding how diet and gut microbiota interact in the context of human health is a key question in personalized nutrition. Genome-scale metabolic networks and constraint-based modeling approaches are promising to systematically address this complex question. However, when applied to nutritional questions, a major issue in existing reconstructions is the lack of information about degradation pathways of relevant nutrients in the diet that are metabolized by the gut microbiota. Here, we present AGREDA, an extended reconstruction of the human gut microbiota metabolism for personalized nutrition. AGREDA includes the degradation pathways of 231 nutrients present in the human diet and…
Metabolic adaptation in the human gut microbiota during pregnancy and the first year of life
2018
Abstract Background The relationship between the gut microbiome and the human host is dynamic and we may expect adjustments in microbiome function if host physiology changes. Metatranscriptomic approaches should be key in unraveling how such adjustments occur. Methods We employ metatranscriptomic sequencing analyses to study gene expression in the gut microbiota of infants through their first year of life, and of their mothers days before delivery and one year afterwards. Findings In infants, hallmarks of aerobic metabolism disappear from the microbial metatranscriptome as development proceeds, while the expression of functions related to carbohydrate transport and metabolism increases and …
The gut as reservoir of antibiotic resistance: microbial diversity of tetracycline resistance in mother and infant.
2011
The microbiota in the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is highly exposed to antibiotics, and may be an important reservoir of resistant strains and transferable resistance genes. Maternal GIT strains can be transmitted to the offspring, and resistances could be acquired from birth. This is a case study using a metagenomic approach to determine the diversity of microorganisms conferring tetracycline resistance (Tc(r)) in the guts of a healthy mother-infant pair one month after childbirth, and to investigate the potential for horizontal transfer and maternal transmission of Tc(r) genes. Fecal fosmid libraries were functionally screened for Tc(r), and further PCR-screened for specific Tc(r) …
Birth Mode-Related Differences in Gut Microbiota Colonization and Immune System Development.
2018
<b><i>Background:</i></b> The process of early gut colonization is extremely variable among individuals and is influenced by numerous factors. Among these, the mode of birth will strongly shape the early microbial exposure and immune environment of the neonate. <b><i>Summary:</i></b> Here, I review how the concomitant processes of microbiota and immune system development are altered by C-section delivery and the effects of such alterations on long-term health. <b><i>Key messages:</i></b> C-section delivery impinges on microbiota and immune system development through various means: (i) if labor is lacking, intrauterine i…
Potential probiotic salami with dietary fiber modulates metabolism and gut microbiota in a human intervention study
2020
A human intervention in 24 healthy volunteers was performed to test the potential health benefits of a fermented salami with a probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and added citrus fiber. Anthropometric measurements and blood biochemistry did not show any significant differences between pre- and post-intervention during 4 weeks with a daily intake of 30 g of salami, neither with regular salami (control group) nor with reformulated salami (intervention group). However, the inflammatory markers CRP and TNFα decreased significantly after intervention, suggesting a less inflammatory environment after reformulated salami consumption. Antioxidant plasmatic markers also improved within the inte…
Adaptation of the Human Gut Microbiota Metabolic Network During the First Year After Birth
2019
Predicting the metabolic behavior of the human gut microbiota in different contexts is one of the most promising areas of constraint-based modeling. Recently, we presented a supra-organismal approach to build context-specific metabolic networks of bacterial communities using functional and taxonomic assignments of meta-omics data. In this work, this algorithm is applied to elucidate the metabolic changes induced over the first year after birth in the gut microbiota of a cohort of Spanish infants. We used metagenomics data of fecal samples and nutritional data of 13 infants at five time points. The resulting networks for each time point were analyzed, finding significant alterations once sol…
Early Development of the Gut Microbiota and Immune Health
2014
In recent years, the increase in human microbiome research brought about by the rapidly evolving “omic” technologies has established that the balance among the microbial groups present in the human gut, and their multipronged interactions with the host, are crucial for health. On the other hand, epidemiological and experimental support has also grown for the ‘early programming hypothesis’, according to which factors that act in utero and early in life program the risks for adverse health outcomes later on. The microbiota of the gut develops during infancy, in close interaction with immune development, and with extensive variability across individuals. It follows that the specific process of…
Spent Coffee Grounds Extract, Rich in Mannooligosaccharides, Promotes a Healthier Gut Microbial Community in a Dose-Dependent Manner.
2019
Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages around the world, and as a consequence, spent coffee grounds are a massively produced residue that is causing environmental problems. Reusing them is a major focus of interest presently. We extracted mannooligosaccharides (MOS) from spent coffee grounds and submitted them to an in vitro fermentation with human feces. Results obtained suggest that MOS are able to exert a prebiotic effect on gut microbiota by stimulating the growth of some beneficial genera, such as Barnesiella, Odoribacter, Coprococcus, Butyricicoccus, Intestinimonas, Pseudoflavonifractor, and Veillonella. Moreover, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) production also increased in a dos…
Effect of Mastiha supplementation on NAFLD: The MAST4HEALTH Randomised, Controlled Trial
2021
On behalf of MAST4HEALTH consortium: et al.
Effect of Food Thermal Processing on the Composition of the Gut Microbiota.
2018
Cooking modifies food composition due to chemical reactions. Additionally, food composition shapes the human gut microbiota. Thus, the objective of this research was to unravel the effect of different food cooking methods on the structure and functionality of the gut microbiota. Common culinary techniques were applied to five foods, which were submitted to in vitro digestion-fermentation. Furosine, 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural, and furfural were used as Maillard reaction indicators to control the heat treatment. Short-chain fatty acids production was quantified as indicator of healthy metabolic output. Gut microbial community structure was analyzed through 16S rRNA. Both food composition and c…
Opportunities and Challenges to Microbial Symbiosis Research in the Microbiome Era
2020
Peer reviewed
Association of Dietary Patterns with MRI Markers of Hepatic Inflammation and Fibrosis in the MAST4HEALTH Study
2022
Whereas the etiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is complex, the role of nutrition as a causing and preventive factor is not fully explored. The aim of this study is to associate dietary patterns with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters in a European population (Greece, Italy, and Serbia) affected by NAFLD. For the first time, iron-corrected T1 (cT1), proton density fat fraction (PDFF), and the liver inflammation fibrosis score (LIF) were examined in relation to diet. A total of 97 obese patients with NAFLD from the MAST4HEALTH study were included in the analysis. A validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess the quality of diet…