Development of an efficient method for screening microorganisms by using symbiotic association between <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nasutitermes takasagoensis</Emphasis> and intestinal microorganisms

Screening method of microorganisms that utilized the symbiotic association between insect (Nasutitermes takasagoensis: Nt) and intestinal microorganisms was developed. The existence of desired microorganisms that grew by degrading difficult-to-degrade materials in the gut was detected using survivability of Nt as an indicator. The desired microorganisms were isolated from the survived Nt. It was thought that guts of Nt behave as continuous culture systems whereby microorganisms that cannot degrade diet components are washed out, whereas those that can degrade it are retained and concentrated in the gut. About 60% of Nt fed with phenol artificial diet (PAD) died within 7 days, while 4% of termites survived for 9 days. The structure of intestinal microorganisms of the survived Nt fed with PAD differed from the bacterial communities obtained from enrichment culture (which contained phenol) of wood-feeding Nt. Relatively high colonies (650-times) were detected in the gut of Nt fed on phenol artificial diet compared with those obtained when Nt was fed on wood. Seven denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) bands were detected from gut of wood-feeding Nt, whereas 11 DGGE-bands were detected from that of phenol-feeding Nt. Out of 11 DGGE-bands, 5 of them were sequenced, and bacterial species including phenol-degrading bacteria were identified.     

乳果糖对肝癌TACE后肠黏膜损伤的保护作用研究

目的了解乳果糖对肝癌TACE后患者肠黏膜损伤的保护作用。方法将54例患者随机分为2组,治疗组按常规治疗加服乳果糖,对照组按常规治疗,服药后观察全身和肠道情况并检测二胺氧化酶(DAO)的内毒素水平。结果治疗组血二胺氧化酶水平与术前相比差异无显著性(P>0.05),未应用乳果糖组血内毒素水平比术前降低(P<0.05);治疗组血内毒素水平与术前相比差异无显著性(P>0.05),而未应用乳果糖组血内毒素水平比术前升高(P<0.05)。结论乳果糖增强了肠道黏膜的屏障作用,在避免肝癌TACE后的肠道细菌易位,内毒素血症起到积极作用。     

Occurrence of rhizobia in the gut of the higher termite Nasutitermes nigriceps

Wood-eating termites feed on a diet highly deficient in nitrogen. They must complement their diet with the aid of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Nitrogen fixation in the gut has been demonstrated, but information about nitrogen-fixing bacteria in pure culture is scarce. From the higher termite Nasutitermes nigriceps the symbiotic bacterial strain M3A was isolated, which thrives in the hindgut contents. The Gram-negative strain exhibited similarities to the species of the genus Ensifer (including Sinorhizobium) on the basis of morphological and physiological/biochemical features. The 16S rRNA gene analysis showed the highest sequence similarity of the isolate M3A to Ensifer adhaerens (>99%; ATCC 33499). The DNA-DNA hybridization revealed a similarity of 66% with E. adhaerens (NCIMB12342(T)). In contrast to the type strain the isolate M3A possesses the capacity to nodulate plant roots. This is the first report on the detailed identification of a rhizobia-related strain from the intestinal tract of animals. Strain M3A has been deposited with two culture collections (DSM10169; ATCC BAA-396).     

Interaction between Shaoyao–Gancao–Tang and a laxative with respect to alteration of paeoniflorin metabolism by intestinal bacteria in rats

Shaoyao-Gancao-Tang (SGT), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine (Kampo formulation) containing Shaoyao (Paeoniae Radix) and Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix), is co-administered with laxative sodium picosulfate as a premedication for relieving the pain accompanying colonoscopy. Paeoniflorin (PF), an active glycoside of SGT, is metabolized into the antispasmodic agent paeonimetabolin-I (PM-I) by intestinal bacteria after oral administration. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether the co-administered laxative (sodium picosulfate) influences the metabolism of PF to PM-I by intestinal bacteria. We found that the PF-metabolizing activity of intestinal bacteria in rat feces was significantly reduced to approximately 34% of initial levels by a single sodium picosulfate pretreatment and took approximately 6 days to recover. Repeated administration of SGT after the sodium picosulfate pretreatment significantly shortened the recovery period to around 2 days. Similar results were also observed for plasma PM-I concentration. Since PM-I has muscle relaxant activity, the present results suggest that repetitive administration of SGT after sodium picosulfate pretreatment might be useful to relieve the pain associated with colonoscopy.     

Paneth cells drive intestinal stem cell competition and clonality in aging and calorie restriction

Calorie restriction has been recently shown to increase intestinal stem cell competition and to reduce mutation fixation in young mice. However, the impact of aging on this process is unknown. By employing Confetti reporter mice, here we show that, unexpectedly, old mice have more intestinal stem cell (ISC) competition than young mice. Moreover, differently from what observed in young mice, calorie restriction, when applied at late-life, decreases this process. Importantly, we also observed a strong correlation between the ISC competition and Paneth cell number. In vivo analysis and in vitro organoid experiments indicated that Paneth cells play a major role in driving intestinal stem cell competition and crypt clonality. Taken together, our results provide evidence that increasing the number of Paneth cells can increase the number of competitive ISCs, representing a valuable therapeutic target to delay fixation of mutated intestinal stem cells.     

Elucidating pathways of Toxoplasma gondii invasion in the gastrointestinal tract: involvement of the tight junction protein occludin

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite infecting one third of the world's population. The small intestine is the parasite's primary route of infection, although the pathway of epithelium transmigration remains unclear. Using an in vitro invasion assay and live imaging we showed that T. gondii (RH) tachyzoites infect and transmigrate between adjacent intestinal epithelial cells in polarized monolayers without altering barrier integrity, despite eliciting the production of specific inflammatory mediators and chemokines. During invasion, T. gondii co-localized with occludin. Reducing the levels of endogenous cellular occludin with specific small interfering RNAs significantly reduced the ability of T. gondii to penetrate between and infect epithelial cells. Furthermore, an in vitro invasion and binding assays using recombinant occludin fragments established the capacity of the parasite to bind occludin and in particular to the extracellular loops of the protein. These findings provide evidence for occludin playing a role in the invasion of T. gondii in small intestinal epithelial cells.     

Intestinal ciliate composition found in the feces of the Turk rahvan horse Equus caballus, Linnaeus 1758

Species composition and distribution of large intestinal ciliates were investigated in the feces from 15 Turk rahvan horses, living in the vicinity of Izmir, Turkey. Twenty-two ciliate genera consisting of 36 species were identified. This is the first report on intestinal ciliates in Turk rahvan horses and no previously unknown species were observed. The mean number of ciliates was 14.2 ± 13.9 × 10⁴ cells ml⁻¹ of feces and the mean number of ciliate species per host was 9.9 ± 7.1. No ciliates were observed in 2 horses. Bundleia and Blepharocorys were considered to be the major genera since these ciliates were constantly found in high proportions. In contrast, Paraisotricha, Didesmis and Gassovskiella were only observed at low frequencies. The ciliates found in this survey had almost the same characteristics as those described in previous reports, suggesting that there was no significant geographic variation in the intestinal ciliate fauna of equids.     

腰椎后路手术肠道菌群变化的研究

目的探讨腰椎后路手术患者肠道菌群的变化以期更合理的指导临床治疗。方法选择58例腰椎后路手术患者,出现肠道菌群失调症者38例,未出现肠道菌群失调症的20例作为对照组。在腰椎后路手术后,分别取2组患者自然排出的新鲜粪便10 g,采用定性定量检测比较2组患者肠道主要菌群差异及B/E值。肠道菌群失调症患者且与手术前自然排出的新鲜粪便进行相同比较。结果试验组肠道的双歧杆菌、类杆菌数量及B/E值较对照组均减少,分别是:9.21±0.65 vs 10.12±0.85;10.02±0.45 vs 10.23±0.45;1.05±0.17 vs 6.99±1.24,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);而肠杆菌、肠球菌数量较对照组增加,分别是:9.11±1.09 vs 8.55±0.89;7.80±1.02vs 7.29±0.98,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。小梭菌、乳杆菌与对照组相比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。肠道菌群失调症患者与手术前进行比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论腰椎后路手术出现肠道菌群失调患者专性厌氧菌减少,条件致病菌增加,肠道微生物定植抗力下降。正确及时地去除病因,尽可能地采取微创手术技术,减少医源性损伤,调整机体免疫功能,纠正营养不良,合理使用抗生素是解决腰椎后路手术患者肠道功能障碍的有效办法。     

贫铀经口慢性染毒对小鼠肠道菌群多样性的影响

目的观察贫铀经口慢性染毒对小鼠肠道菌群多样性的影响。方法通过将不同剂量的贫铀混入饲料中饲养小鼠,以小鼠肝脏和肾脏铀含量作为判断贫铀在动物体内蓄积的指标,建立贫铀经121慢性染毒小鼠模型,观察各组小鼠之间的体重变化,对各组小鼠进行基于细菌16SrRNAV6－V8区的PCR－DGGE分析。结果食入贫铀的各组小鼠肝脏和肾脏铀含量显著高于对照组（P〈0．05）,各组小鼠体重差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）,各组小鼠V6－V8IXDGGE图谱的丰富度和多样性指数差异均无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。结论贫铀经日慢性染毒对小鼠肠道菌群多样性无显著影响。     

传统中草药对肠道益生微生物的作用研究进展

探讨传统中草药对肠道益生微生物的调整作用,重点概述了不同种类与剂量中草药对益生微生物生长的影响及相应的研究方法。在上述基础上对中草药与肠道益生微生物的作用机制、研究前景和发展趋势进行了展望。