Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the fatal malignancies and is considered as the third leading cause of death. Mutations, genetic modifications, dietary aflatoxins, or impairments in the regulation of oncogenic pathways may bring about liver cancer. An effective barrier against hepatotoxins is offered by gut-liver axis as a change in gut permeability and expanded translocation of lipopolysacc...

The neonatal intestinal immune system is still undergoing development at birth, leading to a higher susceptibility to mucosal infections. In this study, we investigated the effect of poly(I:C) on controlling enteric infection by the protozoan Cryptosporidium parvum in neonatal mice. After poly(I:C) administration, a rapid reduction in parasite burden was observed and proved to be dependent on C...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multifactorial disease and requires interaction between genetic and environmental factors for predisposition. The presence of bacterial DNA of the gut residing commensals in synovium as well as dysbiosis of certain commensal bacteria in faecal samples of RA patients as compared to controls suggest a significant role of the gut flora in pathogenesis of RA. The gut ...

The gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) consists of isolated or aggregated lymphoid follicles forming Peyer's patches (PPs). By their ability to transport luminal antigens and bacteria, PPs can be considered as the immune sensors of the intestine. PPs functions like induction of immune tolerance or defense against pathogens result from the complex interplay between immune cells located in the...

The mechanism to maintain homeostasis of the gut microbiota remains largely unknown despite its critical role in the body defense. In the intestines of mice with deficiency of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), the absence of hypermutated IgA is partially compensated for by the presence of large amounts of unmutated IgM and normal expression levels of defensins and angiogenins. We sho...

Probiotics, also referred to as beneficial bacteria, friendly bacteria, good bacteria, and beneficial gut microflora, are microorganisms that reside in the gut (alimentary canal), which includes the pathway that runs from the esophagus to the anus. Beneficial bacteria are found primarily in the intestines and are part of the intestinal flora. The largest group of beneficial bacteria in the gut ...

The human gastrointestinal tract is estimated to contain about l O I 4 micro-organisms, most of them in the colon. These outnumber the host’s own body cells. Considering their vast potential metabolic activity, it is inconceivable that the microbial flora will not interact extensively with man’s diet and affect body metabolism significantly. Yet relatively few micro-organisms have been studied ...

1 made the seminal discovery that 3 metabolites of dietary phosphatidylcholine (choline, trimethylamine N-oxide [TMAO] and betaine) predicted risk for cardiovascular disease in an independent large clinical cohort. They also demonstrated that supplementing the diet with choline or TMAO promoted atherosclerosis in a mouse model. 1 The gut flora was shown to be required for the production of TMAO...

In recent years, the gut microbiota has been considered as a full-fledged actor of the gut-brain axis, making it possible to take a new step in understanding the pathophysiology of both neurological and psychiatric diseases. However, most of the studies have been devoted to gut bacterial microbiota, forgetting the non-negligible fungal flora. In this review, we expose how the role of the fungal...

Vultures are scavengers that fill a key ecosystem niche, in which they have evolved a remarkable tolerance to bacterial toxins in decaying meat. Here we report the first deep metagenomic analysis of the vulture microbiome. Through face and gut comparisons of 50 vultures representing two species, we demonstrate a remarkably conserved low diversity of gut microbial flora. The gut samples containe...