Project description:Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe intestinal disorder connected to a gut microbiota dysbiosis. Approximately 7-8% of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are diagnosed with NEC with mortality rates reaching 20-50%. Fecal virome transfer (FVT) is an approach where the bacteria-free fecal fraction from a healthy donor is administered to a patient with a GM dysbiosis. FVT contains e.g. bacteriophages, eukaryotic viruses, and metabolites. Oral administered FVT from healthy milk-fed term pigs shows promising potential in preventing NEC in the preterm piglet model. However, efficacy and safety are inconsistent between experiments. In the current study, we aim to explore methods of creating reproducible FVT-like treatments and test if these act preventive against NEC and possess minimal side effects in the preterm piglet model. Using cesarean-delivered, formula-fed preterm pigs, we compare the NEC preventive effect of native donor fecal virome (nFV) with: 1) a defined bacteriophage cocktail targeting NEC-associated bacteria; and 2) a chemostat fecal virome propagation with lactose as the major carbohydrate source (cFV), and 3) chemostat fecal virome propagation with lactose and milk oligosaccharides (cFV-OS). All methods will be compared to control treatment with SM buffer (SM).
Project description:A time-series alteration in fecal microbiota was linked to the emergence of intraepithelial bacteria and a unique transcriptome profile in the mouse colon during IBD development.
Project description:In this study we investigated whether gut microbiota profile of Italian healthy volunteers could differ based on their geaographical origin. To this purpose, fecal samples were collected from 31 healthy individuals living in 3 different italian regions (Lombardy, North; Lazio, Center; Apulia, South) and their respective microbiota profiles were analyzed employing 16S metagenomic sequencing method. This study identifies differences in the gut microbiota content and richness among individuals with the same ethnicity coming from three different Italian regions.
Project description:Host-microbiome-dietary interactions play crucial roles in regulating human health, yet direct functional assessment of their interplays, cross-regulations and downstream disease impacts remains challenging. We adopted metagenome-informed metaproteomics (MIM), in both mice and humans, to simultaneously explore host, dietary, and species-level microbiome interactions across diverse scenarios, including commensal and pathogen colonization, nutritional modifications, and antibiotic-induced perturbations. Implementation of MIM in murine auto-inflammation and in human IBD characterized a ‘compositional dysbiosis’ and a concomitant, species-specific ‘functional dysbiosis’ driven by suppressed commensal responses to inflammatory host signals. Microbiome transfers unraveled early-onset kinetics of these host-commensal cross-responsive patterns, while predictive analyses identified candidate fecal host-microbiome IBD biomarker protein pairs outperforming S100A8/S100A9 (calprotectin). Importantly, a simultaneous fecal nutrient assessment enabled determination of IBD-related consumption patterns, dietary treatment compliance and small-intestinal digestive aberrations. Collectively, a parallelized dietary-bacterial-host MIM assessment functionally uncovers trans-kingdom interactomes shaping gastrointestinal ecology, while offering personalized diagnostic and therapeutic insights into microbiome-associated disease.