A healthy gut microbiota plays many crucial functions in the host, being involved in the correct development and functioning of the immune system, assisting in the digestion of certain foods and in the production of health-beneficial bioactive metabolites or 'pharmabiotics'. These include bioactive lipids (including SCFA and conjugated linoleic acid) antimicrobials and exopolysaccharides in add...

Many animals have genetically determined left-right (LR) asymmetry of their internal organs. The midline structure of vertebrate embryos has important roles in LR asymmetric development both as the signaling center for LR asymmetry and as a barrier to inappropriate LR signaling across the midline. However, in invertebrates, the functions of the midline in LR asymmetric development are unknown. ...

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a Janus-faced molecule. On one hand, several toxic functions have been attributed to H₂S and exposure to high levels of this gas is extremely hazardous to health. On the other hand, H₂S delivery based clinical therapies are being developed to combat inflammation, visceral pain, oxidative stress related tissue injury, thrombosis and cancer. Since its discovery, H₂S has ...

During childhood, our brain is exposed to a variety of environmental inputs that can sculpt synaptic connections and neuronal circuits, with subsequent influence on behavior and learning processes. Critical periods of neurodevelopment are windows of opportunity in which the neuronal circuits are extremely plastic and can be easily subjected to remodeling in response to experience. However, the ...

Gut microbiota plays an important role in mammalian host metabolism and physiological functions. The functions are particularly important in young children where rapid mental and physical developments are taking place. Nevertheless, little is known about the gut microbiome and the factors that contribute to microbial variation in the gut of South East Asian children. Here, we compared the gut b...

Without biomarkers modern healthcare would hardly exist. These measurable biological indicators allow physicians to assess the health state of their patients, diagnose conditions and predict disease risks. Over the last decade the highly dynamic field of gut microbiota research has made two essential discoveries: Firstly, the gut microbiota can be regarded as an organ in itself exerting such cr...

this experiment was conducted to determine the effects of dietary myrtle essential oil on small intestinal morphology and microbiology of broiler chickens. two hundred day-old broiler chickens (ross 308) were allocated to 5 treatments, 4 replications with a completely randomized design. the diets were supplemented with: no myrtle essential oil (control), each of myrtle essential oil at levels o...