Search results for "metagenomics"
showing 8 items of 168 documents
Fecal Metagenomics and Metabolomics Identifying Microbial Signatures in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
2023
The frequency of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has intensified, creating diagnostic challenges and increasing the need for reliable non-invasive diagnostic tools. Due to the importance of the gut–liver axis in the progression of NAFLD, studies attempt to reveal microbial signatures in NAFLD, evaluate them as diagnostic biomarkers, and to predict disease progression. The gut microbiome affects human physiology by processing the ingested food into bioactive metabolites. These molecules can penetrate the portal vein and the liver to promote or prevent hepatic fat accumulation. Here, the findings of human fecal metagenomic and metabolomic studies relating to NAFLD are reviewed. The …
Vibrio vulnificus: from water to host
2017
Vibrio vulnificus is an aquatic pathogen autochthonous from temperate, tropical and subtropical ecosystems where it lives either as a sessile cell, forming biofilms or as a free-swimming cell. From these locations, the pathogen can occasionally infect humans and fish causing a disease named vibriosis. The most severe form of human and fish vibriosis is associated with the pathogen’s ability to spread from the infection site to the bloodstream and multiply, process known as invasion. Before invasion, the pathogen has to colonize the mucosal host surface, process that involves not only bacterial attachment/adhesion but also resistance to mucosal immunity, commensal microbiota (competitors) an…
Aerobic exercise training and gut microbiome-associated metabolic shifts in women with overweight : a multi-omic study
2023
Physical activity is essential in weight management, improves overall health, and mitigates obesity-related risk markers. Besides inducing changes in systemic metabolism, habitual exercise may improve gut’s microbial diversity and increase the abundance of beneficial taxa in a correlated fashion. Since there is a lack of integrative omics studies on exercise and overweight populations, we studied the metabolomes and gut microbiota associated with programmed exercise in obese individuals. We measured the serum and fecal metabolites of 17 adult women with overweight during a 6-week endurance exercise program. Further, we integrated the exercise-responsive metabolites with variations in the gu…
Microbiome: pro-inflammatory Prevotella?
2013
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a prevalent systemic autoimmune disease, caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Animal models suggest a role for intestinal bacteria in supporting the systemic immune response required for joint inflammation. Here we performed 16S sequencing on 114 stool samples from rheumatoid arthritis patients and controls, and shotgun sequencing on a subset of 44 such samples. We identified the presence of Prevotella copri as strongly correlated with disease in new-onset untreated rheumatoid arthritis (NORA) patients. Increases in Prevotella abundance correlated with a reduction in Bacteroides and a loss of reportedly beneficial microbes in NORA subjec…
Longitudinal metagenomics
2018
Culture-independent approaches are revolutionizing biology. Whether in a clinical or in an environmental sample, metagenomics can reveal which microorganisms exist and what they actually do. Metagenomic studies have unveiled more microbial diversity in a few years than traditional microbiology in centuries. From the top branches down to the roots, its discoveries are reshaping the tree of life dramatically. Metagenomics is a powerful tool for the study of microbial communities, but it requires equally powerful methods of analysis. Current challenges in the analysis of metagenomic data include the accurate comparison of samples, the estimation of the uncertainty in the results, and the effec…
Gut microbiome and atrial fibrillation - results from a large population-based study
2023
Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important heart rhythm disorder in aging populations. The gut microbiome composition has been previously related to cardiovascular disease risk factors. Whether the gut microbial profile is also associated with the risk of AF remains unknown. Methods We examined the associations of prevalent and incident AF with gut microbiota in the FINRISK 2002 study, a random population sample of 6763 individuals. We replicated our findings in an independent case–control cohort of 138 individuals in Hamburg, Germany. Findings Multivariable-adjusted regression models revealed that prevalent AF (N = 116) was associated with nine microbial genera. Incident AF (N = 5…
Understanding the microbial biogeography of ancient human dentitions to guide study design and interpretation
2021
AbstractThe oral cavity is a heterogeneous environment, varying in factors such as pH, oxygen levels, and salivary flow. These factors affect the microbial community composition and distribution of species in dental plaque, but it is not known how well these patterns are reflected in archaeological dental calculus. In most archaeological studies, a single sample of dental calculus is studied per individual and is assumed to represent the entire oral cavity. However, it is not known if this sampling strategy introduces biases into studies of the ancient oral microbiome. Here, we present the results of a shotgun metagenomic study of a dense sampling of dental calculus from four Chalcolithic i…
In-depth characterization of denitrifier communities across different soil ecosystems in the tundra
2022
Abstract Background In contrast to earlier assumptions, there is now mounting evidence for the role of tundra soils as important sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). However, the microorganisms involved in the cycling of N2O in this system remain largely uncharacterized. Since tundra soils are variable sources and sinks of N2O, we aimed at investigating differences in community structure across different soil ecosystems in the tundra. Results We analysed 1.4 Tb of metagenomic data from soils in northern Finland covering a range of ecosystems from dry upland soils to water-logged fens and obtained 796 manually binned and curated metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). We then sear…