The authors report a case of Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus gastro-intestinal infection and bacteremia with poly-arthritis, mainly of the hip, in a French patient simultaneously suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. The outcome was eventually favorable, however only after a trial of ineffective pefloxacin-gentamicin therapy. The authors suggest: (i) gentamicin should not be given alone in C. fetus subsp. fetus infections, and (ii) pefloxacin should not be given if antibiotic sensitivities data are not available. The inconclusive reliability of disk diffusion tests for C. fetus subsp. fetus should be recognized.
Antibiotics, Combined/*administration & dosage ; Arthritis, Infectious/*drug therapy/microbiology ; Bacteremia/*drug therapy/microbiology ; Campylobacter Infections/*drug therapy/microbiology ; Campylobacter fetus/*drug effects ; Case Report ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Gastrointestinal Diseases/*drug therapy/microbiology ; Gentamicins/administration & dosage ; *Hip Joint ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Pefloxacin/*administration & dosage

Inulin has been used as a prebiotic to alleviate glucose and lipid metabolism disorders in mice and humans by modulating the gut microbiota. However, the mechanism underlying the alleviation of metabolic disorders by inulin through interactions between the gut microbiota and host cells is unclear. We use ob/ob mice as a model to study the effect of inulin on the cecal microbiota by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and its interaction with host cells by transcriptomics. The inulin-supplemented diet improved glucose and lipid metabolism disorder parameters in ob/ob mice, alleviating fat accumulation and glucose intolerance. The α diversity of gut microbial community of ob/ob mice was reduced after inulin treatment, while the β diversity tended to return to the level of wild type mice. Interestingly, Prevotellaceae UCG 001 (family Prevotellaceae) was obviously enriched after inulin treatment. A comparative analysis of the gene expression profile showed that the cecal transcriptome was changed in leptin gene deficiency mice, whereas the inulin-supplemented diet partially reversed the changes in leptin gene-related signaling pathways, especially AMPK signaling pathway, where the levels of gene expression became comparable to those in wild type mice. Further analysis indicated that Prevotellaceae UCG 001 was positively correlated with the AMPK signaling pathway, which was negatively correlated with markers of glycolipid metabolism disorders. Our results suggest that the inulin-supplemented diet alleviates glucose and lipid metabolism disorders by partially restoring leptin related pathways mediated by gut microbiota.
AMP-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cecum ; enzymology ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; drug effects ; Inulin ; therapeutic use ; Leptin ; genetics ; Male ; Metabolic Diseases ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Mice ; Mice, Obese ; Prebiotics ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Transcriptome

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Several clinical trials have revealed various advantages for probiotics in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to further investigate the effects of probiotic yogurt consumption on gut microbiota in patients with this disease. METHODS: A total of 305 participants were divided into three groups; group A (IBD patients receiving probiotic yogurt; n=105), group B (IBD patients receiving placebo; n=105), and control group (healthy individuals receiving probiotic yogurt; n=95). Stool samples were collected both before and after 8 weeks of intervention; and population of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides in the stool specimens was measured by Taqman real-time PCR method. ': By the end of the intervention, no significant variations in the mean weight and body mass index were observed between three groups (p>0.05). However, the mean numbers of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Bacteroides in group A were significantly increased compared to group B (p<0.001, p<0.001, and p<0.01, respectively). There were also significant differences in the mean numbers of either of three bacteria between group A and the healthy control group; however, these differences between two groups were observed both at baseline and the end of the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Consumption of probiotic yogurt by patients with IBD may help to improve intestinal function by increasing the number of probiotic bacteria in the intestine and colon. However, many more studies are required in order to prove the concept.
Adult ; Bacteroides/genetics ; Bifidobacterium/genetics ; DNA, Bacterial/analysis ; Double-Blind Method ; Feces/microbiology ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/*drug therapy ; Intestines/microbiology ; Lactobacillus/genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Placebo Effect ; Probiotics/*therapeutic use ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is the most common infection in liver cirrhosis patients, and is not a result of surgery or intra abdominal infection. Argon plasma coagulation (APC) is an endoscopic procedure used with a high-frequency electrical current for control of bleeding from gastrointestinal vascular ectasias including angiodysplasia and gastric antral vascular ectasia. This procedure is known to be safe because it uses a noncontact method. Therefore, tissue injury is minimal and up to two to three millimeters. However, we experienced a case of SBP occurring immediately after performance of APC for control of severe bleeding from angiodysplasia in the colon in a patient with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Aged ; Angiodysplasia/complications/*diagnosis ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; *Argon Plasma Coagulation ; Bacterial Infections/*diagnosis/drug therapy/microbiology ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/complications/diagnosis ; Colonic Diseases/complications/*diagnosis ; Colonoscopy ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/therapy ; Gram-Negative Bacteria/isolation & purification ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis/complications/diagnosis ; Liver Neoplasms/complications/diagnosis ; Peritonitis/*diagnosis/drug therapy/microbiology

OBJECTIVETo study the structural shifts of gut flora in rats with acute alcoholic liver injury (AALI), and the effect of jianpi huoxue decoction (JPHXD) on the gut flora.

METHODSThirty-six Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated to the control, AALI and JPHXD groups equally. The rats in the control group were given water and those in AALI and JPHXD groups were given ethanol by intragastric gavage for 5 days, while rats in the JPHXD group were administered JPHXD simultaneously. The blood and liver tissue were collected at the end of the experiment. The activities of serum alkaline aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), hepatic γ-glutamyltranspetidase (γ-GT) and hepatic triglyceride (TG) levels were determined. Plasma endotoxin level in the portal vein was measured. Pathological changes of liver tissues were determined by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and oil red O staining. The total DNA of gut flora were extracted from fecal samples by Bead-beating method and determined by ERIC-PCR fingerprint method. The similarity cluster analysis and principal component analysis were performed to analyze the ERIC-PCR fingerprint respectively.

RESULTSIn the AALI group, the ratio of liver/body weight, activities of ALT, AST and hepatic γ-GT, amount of hepatic TG were elevated significantly compared with those in the control group (all P<0.01). JPHXD decreased the ratio, activities of ALT, AST, γ-GT and TG significantly compared with those in the AALI group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). HE and oil red O staining showed that fat deposited markedly in liver tissue, while JPHXD alleviated pathological changes markedly. Plasma LPS level in rat portal vein in the AALI group increased significantly (P<0.01), but it was decreased significantly in the JPHXD group (P<0.01). The cluster analysis and principal component analysis of ERIC-PCR fingerprint showed that gut flora in the AALI group changed markedly, and JPHXD could recover gut flora to some extent.

CONCLUSIONSThe structure of gut flora shifted markedly during acute alcoholic liver injury, JPHXD had prevention effect through the modification of gut flora.

Animals ; Azo Compounds ; metabolism ; Bacteria ; genetics ; Body Weight ; Cluster Analysis ; Consensus Sequence ; genetics ; DNA Fingerprinting ; methods ; DNA, Intergenic ; genetics ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Freezing ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; microbiology ; pathology ; Liver ; microbiology ; pathology ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; pathology ; Organ Size ; Phylogeny ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Principal Component Analysis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid ; genetics ; Staining and Labeling

No abstract available.
Adult ; Antineoplastic Agents/*adverse effects ; Antitubercular Agents/therapeutic use ; Biopsy ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors/*drug therapy/pathology/surgery ; Humans ; Imatinib Mesylate/*adverse effects ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial/*chemically induced/diagnosis ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/*isolation & purification ; Protein Kinase Inhibitors/*adverse effects ; Rectal Neoplasms/*drug therapy/pathology/surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/diagnosis/drug therapy/*microbiology

The present study was designed to investigate the therapeutic effcts of Moutan Cortex (CM, root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa Andr) and Paeoniae Radix Rubra (PR, root of Paeonia veitchii Lynch) on metabolic disorders, focusing on the infuence of CM and PR on the obesity-related gut microbiota homeostasis. The diet-induced obese (DIO) mouse model was used to test the therapeutic effects of CM and PR. The mice were orally administered with CM and PR for 6 weeks, and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and insulin tolerance test (ITT) were performed to evaluate the insulin sensitivity of the mice. Sterol-regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) and their target genes were measured by quantitative RT-PCR. High-throughput 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene sequencing technology was used to determine the composition of gut microbiota, and the metabolites in serum were analyzed by GC-MS. Our results indicated that CM and PR combination alleviated obese and insulin resistance in the DIO mice, leading to increased glucose uptake and gene expression in muscle and liver, and down-regulated SREBPs and their target genes in liver. Interesting, neither the CM-PR extracts, nor the major components of CM and PR did not affect SREBPs activity in cultured cells. Meanwhile, CM and PR significantly modulated the gut microbiota of the high-fat diet (HFD) treated mice, similar to metformin, and CM-PR reversed the overall microbiota composition similar to the normal chow diet (NCD) treated mice. In conclusion, our results provide novel mechanisms of action for the effects of CM and PR in treating DIO-induced dysregulation of sugar and lipid metabolism.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Diet, High-Fat ; adverse effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; drug effects ; Homeostasis ; drug effects ; Humans ; Insulin ; metabolism ; Male ; Metabolic Diseases ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Paeonia ; chemistry ; Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism