阴道微生态菌群与宫颈疾病相关性的研究进展

宫颈疾病包括宫颈炎症、宫颈鳞状上皮内病变及宫颈癌,近年研究发现阴道微生物菌群产生的细胞因子及局部免疫系统与宫颈疾病的发生、发展有关。正常女性的阴道微生态环境由多种微生物构成,其中乳杆菌对维持阴道微生态平衡发挥着重要作用。宫颈癌在女性恶性肿瘤中发生率位居第一,其发生与人乳头瘤病毒(HPV)持续感染密切相关,但并非所有感染HPV者均患宫颈癌,其病因为多因素综合作用。因乳杆菌变化导致的阴道疾病与HPV感染相互作用,共同参与宫颈疾病的发生、进展,系统有效的阴道微生态环境检测对及时调节阴道微生态平衡非常重要。阴道微生物菌群与宫颈疾病之间的关系成为许多学者的研究热点,综述阴道微生态与宫颈疾病发生、发展的相关性,为宫颈疾病尤其是宫颈癌的预防、治疗及预后提供理论依据。     

Designer probiotics: Development and applications in gastrointestinal health

Given the increasing commercial and clinical relevance of probiotics, improving their stress tolerance profile and ability to overcome the physiochemical defences of the host is an important biological goal. Herein, I review the current state of the art in the design of engineered probiotic cultures, with a specific focus on their utility as therapeutics for the developing world; from the treatment of chronic and acute enteric infections, andtheir associated diarrhoeal complexes, to targeting HIV and application as novel mucosal vaccine delivery vehicles.     

Antimicrobial activity of selected synbiotics targeted for the elderly against pathogenic Escherichia coli strains

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of two synbiotic combinations, Lactobacillus fermentum with short-chain fructooligosaccharides (FOS-LF) and Bifidobacterium longum with isomaltooligosaccharides (IMO-BL), against enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 and enteropathogenic E. coli O86. Antimicrobial activity was determined (1) by co-culturing the synbiotics and pathogens in batch cultures, and (2) with the three-stage continuous culture system (gut model), inoculated with faecal slurry from an elderly donor. In the co-culture experiments, IMO-BL was significantly inhibitory to both E. coli strains, while FOS-LF was slightly inhibitory or not inhibitory. Factors other than acid production appeared to play a role in the inhibition. In the gut models, both synbiotics effectively inhibited E. coli O157 in the first vessel, but not in vessels 2 and 3. E. coli O86 was not significantly inhibited.     

Effects of a synbiotic on symptoms,and daily functioning in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – A double-blind randomized controlled trial

Some prebiotics and probiotics have been proposed to improve psychiatric symptoms in children with autism. However, few studies were placebo-controlled, and there is no study on persons with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis. Our aim was to study effects of Synbiotic 2000 on psychiatric symptoms and functioning in children and adults with ADHD without an autism diagnosis. Children and adults (n = 182) with an ADHD diagnosis completed the nine weeks randomized double-blind parallel placebo-controlled trial examining effects of Synbiotic 2000 on the primary endpoints ADHD symptoms, autism symptoms and daily functioning, and the secondary endpoint emotion regulation, measured using the questionnaires SNAP-IV, ASRS, WFIRS, SCQ, AQ and DERS-16. Levels at baseline of plasma C-reactive protein and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), central to leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion facilitating inflammatory responses in tissues, were measured using Meso Scale Discovery. Synbiotic 2000 and placebo improved ADHD symptoms equally well, and neither active treatment nor placebo had any statistically significant effect on functioning or sub-diagnostic autism symptoms. However, Synbiotic 2000, specifically, reduced sub-diagnostic autism symptoms in the domain restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors in children, and improved emotion regulation in the domain of goal-directed behavior in adults. In children with elevated sVCAM-1 levels at baseline as well as in children without ADHD medication, Synbiotic 2000 reduced both the total score of autism symptoms, and the restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. In adults with elevated sVCAM-1 at baseline, Synbiotic 2000 significantly improved emotion regulation, both the total score and four of the five subdomains. To conclude, while no definite Synbiotic 2000-specific effect was detected, the analysis of those with elevated plasma sVCAM-1 levels proposed a reduction of autism symptoms in children and an improvement of emotion regulation in adults with ADHD.Trial registration number: ISRCTN57795429.     

Oral and intestinal microflora in 5‐fluorouracil treated rats,translocation to cervical and mesenteric lymph nodes and effects of probiotic bacteria

Serious systemic infections may occur during cancer chemotherapy due to disturbances in the oropharyngeal and gastrointestinal microflora, impaired mucosal barrier functions and immunosuppression. Bacteria may spread from the gastrointestinal tract to the regional lymph nodes. The routes for bacterial spread from the oral cavity are less well known. In the present study we investigated changes in the oral and intestinal microfloras in rats given 50 mg/kg 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) i.v. for 6 days. Bacterial dissemination to the lymph nodes draining the oral cavity and the lymph nodes draining the gastrointestinal tract was examined. Effects of adding the probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum 299v in the drinking water to the rats were measured. 5‐FU treatment caused an increase in the number of facultative and strictly anaerobic bacteria in biopsies from the oral cavity and an increase in the number of facultative anaerobes in the large intestine. The proportion of facultative gram‐negative rods increased in both the oral cavity and intestine. Bacteria translocated to both the cervical and mesenteric lymph nodes in untreated animals and increased in numbers after 5‐FU treatment due to an increase in the number of facultative gram‐negative rods. Treatment with L. plantarum 299v improved food intake and body weight in 5‐FU‐treated rats. It also reduced the 5‐FU‐induced raise in the total numbers of facultative anaerobes in the intestine, but did not reduce translocation and did not prevent diarrhea. This study reinforces the oral cavity, along with the gastrointestinal tract, as a source for bacterial dissemination. The use of probiotic bacteria may reduce some side effects of 5‐FU treatment.     

Antibacterial effect of ozone on cariogenic bacterial species

Objective

The aim was to evaluate the antibacterial effect of ozone on cariogenic bacterial species with and without the presence of saliva and a possible effect on the salivary proteins.

Methods

Suspensions of Actinomyces naeslundii (ACTCC 12104^T), Lactobacilli casei (N CTC 151) and Streptococcus mutans (NCTC 10449), in salt buffer or in saliva, were exposed to ozone gas delivered by the ozone generator Healozone™ 2130C. Aliquots of the suspensions were taken after 10, 30 and 60 s ozone exposures and cultivated on agar plates. Initial number of bacteria per ml was 8.0 × 10⁷ (SD 2.2 × 10⁷) (A. naeslundii), 1.0 × 10⁸ (SD 3.1 × 10⁶) (L. casei) and 1.0 × 10⁸ (SD 7.0 × 10⁵) (S. mutans), respectively. The proteins were separated by SDS electrophoresis and visualized by silver staining.

Results

In salt buffer 92%, 73% and 64% of the initial numbers of A. naeslundii, S. mutans and L. casei, respectively, were killed already after 10 s ozone exposure, while approximately 99.9% of the bacteria were dead after a 60 s exposure. After 10 and 30 s, but not after 60 s exposure to ozone, S. mutans and L. casei were less efficiently killed in saliva compared to the salt buffer. Various saliva proteins were degraded by ozone after a 60 s exposure.

Conclusions

The cariogenic species S. mutans, L. casei and A. naeslundii were almost eliminated following 60 s of ozone treatment. This killing was reduced in the presence of saliva although increasing the ozone application time to 60 s overcame these reductants in saliva. Detection of altered salivary proteins indicates that saliva components constitute additional targets for ozone.     

Isolation and characterization of Lactobacillus species inhibiting the formation of Streptococcus mutans biofilm

Oral bacterium S11 was isolated from the saliva of young children without dental caries and with little or no visible supragingival plaque. The S11 strain showed 99.5% similarity with Lactobacillus fermentum, and was identified on the basis of biochemical characteristics and a 16S rDNA sequence. S11 strain and its culture supernatant significantly inhibited the formation of the insoluble glucan produced by Streptococcus mutans Ingbritt. S11 did not affect the multiplication of S. mutans Ingbritt, but the adherence of S. mutans Ingbritt onto cuvette walls was inhibited completely.