Project description:Background and aims: Gene mutations or variants leading to insufficient reactive oxygen species (ROS) production have been associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In particular, 40-50% of patients with chronic granulomatous disease have IBD (CGD-IBD). CGD is caused by inherited defects in any one of the 5 subunits forming the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase complex 2 (NOX2), leading to severely reduced or absent phagocyte-derived ROS production. While conventional IBD therapies can treat CGD-IBD, their benefits must be weighed against the risk of infection in this immune compromised population. Understanding the impact of NOX2 defects on the composition and function of the intestinal microbiota may lead to the identification of treatments for CGD-IBD. Methods: We evaluated GI symptom and quality of life scores, and clinical biomarkers of local (i.e. fecal occult blood and calprotectin) and systemic (i.e. CBC, CRP, ESR, and albumin) inflammation in a cohort of 79 patients with CGD, 8 mutation carriers and 17 healthy controls followed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We profiled the intestinal microbiome by 16S rRNA (V4 region) sequencing and the stool metabolome by mass spectrometry in all fecal samples, and further validated our findings by profiling the stool microbiome in a second cohort of 36 patients with CGD recruited from 11 centers across North-America through the Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium (PIDTC). Predictive functional profiling of the microbial communities based on 16S rRNA sequencing was also performed. Results: After controlling for significant variables, we show decreased alpha diversity and identified distinct intestinal microbiome and metabolomic profiles in patients with CGD compared to healthy individuals. In particular, we observed enrichment for Erysipelatoclostridium spp., Sellimonas spp. and Lachnoclostridium spp. in stool samples from patients with CGD. Despite differences in alpha and beta diversity in samples from the NIH compared to the PIDTC cohort, there were several bacterial taxa that correlated significantly between both cohorts. We further demonstrate that patients with active IBD and/or a history of IBD have a distinct microbiome and metabolomic profile compared to patients without CGD-IBD and identified bacterial taxa to be evaluated as potential markers of disease severity, as well as targets for future therapeutic interventions. Conclusions: Intestinal microbiome and metabolomic signatures distinguished patients with CGD and CGD-IBD and identified microbial and metabolomic candidates to be further evaluated as potential targets to improve the management of patients with CGD-IBD.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic and progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease that is unresponsive to current therapy. While it carries a median survival of less than 3 years its rate of progression varies widely between patients. We hypothesized that studying the gene expression profiles of physiologically stable patients and those in which the disease progressed rapidly after the initial diagnosis would aid in the search for biomarkers and contribute to the understanding of disease pathogenesis. We generated 12 Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) lung parenchyma SAGE profiles. Initial cluster analysis including 8 other public available lung SAGE libraries verified that the IPF transcriptome is distinct from normal lung tissue and other lung diseases like COPD. In order to identify candidate markers of disease progression we segregated the IPF SAGE profiles in two groups based on clinical parameters regarding lung volume and lung function.
Project description:Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance worldwide. Strikingly, molecular pathways engaged by its regular consumption remain unclear. We herein addressed the mechanisms associated with habitual (chronic) caffeine consumption in the mouse hippocampus using untargeted orthogonal-omics techniques. Our results revealed that chronic caffeine exerts concerted pleiotropic effects in the hippocampus, at the epigenomic, proteomic and metabolomic levels, lowered metabolic-related processes in bulk tissue, while inducing neuronal-specific epigenetic changes at synaptic transmission/neuronal activity-related genes. Altogether, these findings suggest that regular intake of caffeine improves the signal-to-noise ratio during information encoding in learning in part through a re-setting of metabolic genes helping to bolster the salience of information processing in neuronal circuits.
Project description:Rationale: Sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality; early diagnosis and prediction of progression is difficult to determine. The integration of metabolomic and transcriptomic data in an experimental model of sepsis may be a novel method to identify molecular signatures of clinical sepsis. Objectives: Develop a biomarker panel for earlier diagnosis and prognostic characterization of sepsis patients to inform personalized clinical management and improve understanding of the pathophysiology of sepsis progression. Methods: Mild to severe sepsis, lung injury and death was recapitulated in Macaca fascicularis by intravenous inoculation of Escherichia coli. Plasma samples were obtained at time of challenge and at one, three, and five days later or time of euthanasia. Necropsy was performed and blood, lung, kidney and spleen samples were obtained. An integrative analysis of comprehensive metabolomic and transcriptomic datasets was performed to identify and parameterize a biomarker panel. Measurements and Main Results: Pathogen invasion, respiratory distress, lethargy and mortality was dose dependent. Severe infection and death were associated with metabolomic and transcriptomic changes indicative of mitochondrial, peroxisomal and liver dysfunction. Analysis of reciprocal pulmonary transcriptome and plasma metabolome data revealed an integrated host response that suggested dysregulated fatty acid catabolism resulting from peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor signaling. A representative 4-metabolite model effectively diagnosed sepsis in primates (AUC 0.966) and in two human sepsis cohorts (AUC=0.78 and 0.82). Conclusion: A model to guide early management of patients with sepsis was developed by analysis of reciprocal metabolomic and transcriptomic data in primates that diagnosed sepsis in humans. Transcriptomic analysis of lungs from Cynomolgus macaques challenged with E. coli
Project description:The liver plays a central role in metabolism and is important in maintaining homeostasis throughout the body. This study integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic data to understand how the liver responds under chronic heat stress. Chickens from a rapidly growing broiler line were heat stressed for 8 hours per day for one week and liver samples were collected at 28 days post hatch. Transcriptome analysis reveals changes in genes responsible for cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, and DNA repair along with immune function. Integrating the metabolome and transcriptome data highlighted multiple pathways affected by heat stress including glucose, amino acid, and lipid metabolism along with glutathione production and beta- oxidation.
Project description:Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance worldwide. Strikingly, molecular pathways engaged by its regular consumption remain unclear. We herein addressed the mechanisms associated with habitual (chronic) caffeine consumption in the mouse hippocampus using untargeted orthogonal-omics techniques. Our results revealed that caffeine exerts concerted pleiotropic effects in the hippocampus, at the epigenomic, proteomic and metabolomic levels, aimed at lowering metabolic-related processes while re-setting learning-associated transcriptome associated with neuronal activity. These processes involve BDNF, CREB and adenosine A2A receptors-related mechanisms. Altogether, these findings suggest that regular intake of caffeine improves the signal-to-noise ratio during information encoding in learning and bolsters the salience of information encoding in brain circuits.
Project description:Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance worldwide. Strikingly, molecular pathways engaged by its regular consumption remain unclear. We herein addressed the mechanisms associated with habitual (chronic) caffeine consumption in the mouse hippocampus using untargeted orthogonal-omics techniques. Our results revealed that caffeine exerts concerted pleiotropic effects in the hippocampus, at the epigenomic, proteomic and metabolomic levels, aimed at lowering metabolic-related processes while re-setting learning-associated transcriptome associated with neuronal activity. These processes involve BDNF, CREB and adenosine A2A receptors-related mechanisms. Altogether, these findings suggest that regular intake of caffeine improves the signal-to-noise ratio during information encoding in learning and bolsters the salience of information encoding in brain circuits.