Airway microbiome linked to asthma severity in children

Much like the gut, skin and mouth, our respiratory system is home to its own unique microbial population, which is being increasingly implicated in a number of diseases, from cystic fibrosis to pulmonary disease. Intriguing new research led by scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found a link between specific bacterial populations in the upper airways and asthma symptom severity.

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The results compellingly found a distinct microbiome shift in the upper airway bacterial community as a child transitioned from respiratory health to symptoms of asthma. When a child’s asthma was under control the researchers identified higher levels of Corynebacterium and Dolosigranulum bacteria in the upper airways. As an asthma flare-up loomed the researchers detected increases in Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and Moraxella bacterial populations. “Our data demonstrated a rapid change of the airway microbiome in the children who transitioned from respiratory health to disease," explains the study’s first author, Yanjiao Zhou. "It is also intriguing to find that the microbiome changing pattern could play an important role in asthma exacerbation."

Much more at: https://newatlas.com/medical/airway-microbiom...asthma-severity-children/

Microbiome Diagnostics

During the past decade, breakthroughs in sequencing technology and computational biology have provided the basis for studies of the myriad ways in which microbial communities (microbiota") in and on the human body influence human health and disease. In almost every medical specialty, there is now a growing interest in accurate and replicable profiling of the microbiota for use in diagnostic and therapeutic application.

https://academic.oup.com/clinchem/article/66/1/68/5688837

Impressive. It is rewarding to work on projects that achieve something. Thanks.

The gut microbiome

We are not alone in our bodies, living inside every person are trillions of microorganisms-bacteria, viruses, fungi and other life forms that are collectively known as the microbiome. Read a collection of articles in Nature outlook about the role of the microbiome in health and diseases.

https://www.nature.com/collections/eccfeecfae

Toxin produced by common gut bacteria linked to bowel cancer

Prior study had revealed some strains of E. coli gut bacteria produce a toxin called colibactin. This toxin has previously been shown to trigger DNA damage in lab cell tests, so the current research set out to explore whether this same damage could be found in intestinal cells, and subsequently colon tumors.

After around five months of exposure to the colibactin-producing E. coli, the researchers detected double the DNA damage in the [lab grown, human tissue] organoids, compared to those cells exposed to a strain of E. coli that doesn’t produce colibactin. The DNA damage triggered by the colibactin was found to follow very specific patterns, allowing the researchers to then explore whether these patterns could be seen in bowel cancer tumor samples.

A subsequent analysis of over more than 2000 bowel cancer samples revealed the specific colibactin-induced DNA damage present in almost 5 percent of tumors. This suggests the gut bacteria produced toxin is playing some kind of role in the development of about 1 in 20 cases of bowel cancer. Questions have been raised by this new research over the safety of probiotic supplements containing bacteria known to produce colibactin. While the particular strain of E. coli used in the study is not administered as a probiotic, a popular probiotic strain known as E. coli nissle is known to produce colibactin.

More info and detail at: https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/microbi...owel-cancer-toxin-e-coli/