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The Role of Commensal Microbiota in Human Health

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2022) | Viewed by 16168

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Rustam Aminov

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Guest Editor

School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
Interests: antimicrobials; antimicrobial resistance; gut microbiology; host–microbe interaction; immunity; immune diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

From the time of the discovery of the first bacterial pathogens and the proposal of the germ theory of disease by Pasteur, Koch, and Loeffler, bacteria have largely been perceived negatively, namely as agents of disease. Only in the last couple of decades has it become clear that the vast majority of human microbiota are in fact substantial contributors to human health and well-being. Human microbiota are involved in a number of functions in the human body, from helping to digest polysaccharides and synthesizing vitamins to shaping and maintaining the immune system. For these reasons, host–microbiota relations are also called symbiotic. In contrast, when this delicate balance between the host and its microbes is compromised, this may result in a range of diseases that can affect many organs, from the gastrointestinal tract to the brain.

Currently, there is a substantial body of literature suggesting a variety of links between human disease and dysbiotic conditions. What is lacking, though, is the availability of mechanistic explanations of how the microbiota contribute to human health and disease. Thus, the main aim of this Special Issue is to gather the most recent advances in this important area of research. We invite the submission of original research papers, review articles, and short communications on any aspect of “The Role of Commensal Microbiota in Human Health”. Submissions dealing with the molecular mechanisms of host–microbe interactions are particularly welcome.

Dr. Rustam Aminov
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

gut microbiota
commensal microbiota
dysbiosis
host–microbe interaction
mucosal immunity

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 3113 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Amelioration of Maternal Immune Activation-Induced Autism Relevant Behaviors by Gut Commensal Parabacteroides goldsteinii

by Tzu-Lung Lin, Cha-Chen Lu, Ting-Wen Chen, Chih-Wei Huang, Jang-Jih Lu, Wei-Fan Lai, Ting-Shu Wu, Chih-Ho Lai, Hsin-Chih Lai and Ya-Lei Chen

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(21), 13070; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms232113070 - 28 Oct 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2326

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by cognitive inflexibility and social deficits. Probiotics have been demonstrated to play a promising role in managing the severity of ASD. However, there are no effective probiotics for clinical use. Identifying new probiotic strains for ameliorating ASD is therefore essential. Using the maternal immune activation (MIA)-based offspring ASD-like mouse model, a probiotic-based intervention strategy was examined in female mice. The gut commensal microbe Parabacteroides goldsteinii MTS01, which was previously demonstrated to exert multiple beneficial effects on chronic inflammation-related-diseases, was evaluated. Prenatal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure induced leaky gut-related inflammatory phenotypes in the colon, increased LPS activity in sera, and induced autistic-like behaviors in offspring mice. By contrast, P. goldsteinii MTS01 treatment significantly reduced intestinal and systemic inflammation and ameliorated disease development. Transcriptomic analyses of MIA offspring indicated that in the intestine, P. goldsteinii MTS01 enhanced neuropeptide-related signaling and suppressed aberrant cell proliferation and inflammatory responses. In the hippocampus, P. goldsteinii MTS01 increased ribosomal/mitochondrial and antioxidant activities and decreased glutamate receptor signaling. Together, significant ameliorative effects of P. goldsteinii MTS01 on ASD relevant behaviors in MIA offspring were identified. Therefore, P. goldsteinii MTS01 could be developed as a next-generation probiotic for ameliorating ASD. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Commensal Microbiota in Human Health)

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19 pages, 2148 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Molecular Epidemiology and Virulence of Non-Typhoidal Salmonella in Armenia

by Anahit Sedrakyan, Zhanna Ktsoyan, Karine Arakelova, Zaruhi Gevorgyan, Magdalina Zakharyan, Shoghik Hakobyan, Alvard Hovhannisyan, Arsen Arakelyan and Rustam Aminov

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(16), 9330; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23169330 - 18 Aug 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1915

Abstract

In this work, we analysed human isolates of nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica (NTS), which were collected from salmonellosis cases in Armenia from 1996 to 2019. This disease became a leading food-borne bacterial infection in the region, with the younger age groups especially affected. The isolates were characterised by serotyping, Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC-PCR) typing, and whole genome sequencing (WGS). The main serotypes were S. Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis, and S. Arizonae. ERIC-PCR indicated a high degree of clonality among S. Typhimurium strains, which were also multidrug-resistant and produced extended spectrum beta-lactamases. During the study period, the frequency of S. Typhimurium and S. Arizonae isolations decreased, but with the increase in S. Enteritidis and other NTS. A total of 42 NTS isolates were subjected to WGS and explored for virulence-related traits and the corresponding genetic elements. Some virulence and genetic factors were shared by all NTS serotypes, while the main differences were attributed to the serotype-specific diversity of virulence genes, SPIs, virulence plasmids, and phages. The results indicated the variability and dynamics in the epidemiology of salmonellosis and a high virulence potential of human NTS isolates circulating in the region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Commensal Microbiota in Human Health)

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16 pages, 1913 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Genetic Elements Orchestrating Lactobacillus crispatus Glycogen Metabolism in the Vagina

by Rosanne Hertzberger, Ali May, Gertjan Kramer, Isabelle van Vondelen, Douwe Molenaar and Remco Kort

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(10), 5590; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23105590 - 17 May 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2615

Abstract

Glycogen in the female lower reproductive tract is a major carbon source for colonization and acidification by common vaginal Lactobacillus species, such as Lactobacillus crispatus. Previously, we identified the amylopullulanase encoding gene pulA of Lactobacillus crispatus to correlate with the ability to autonomously utilize glycogen for growth. Here, we further characterize genetic variation and differential regulation of pulA affecting the presence of its gene product on the outer surface layer. We show that alpha-glucan degrading activity dissipates when Lactobacillus crispatus is grown on glucose, maltose and maltotriose, in agreement with carbon catabolite repression elements flanking the pulA gene. Proteome analysis of the S-layer confirmed that the amylopullulanase protein is highly abundant in an S-layer enriched fraction, but not in a strain with a defective amylopullulanase variant or in an amylopullulanase-sufficient strain grown on glucose. In addition, we provide evidence that Lactobacillus crispatus pulA mutants are relevant in vivo, as they are commonly observed in metagenome datasets of human vaginal microbial communities. Analysis of the largest publicly available dataset of 1507 human vaginal metagenomes indicates that among the 270 samples that contain a Lactobacillus crispatuspulA gene, 62 samples (23%) had a defective variant of this gene. Taken together, these results demonstrate that both environmental, as well as genetic factors explain the variation of Lactobacillus crispatus alpha-glucosidases in the vaginal environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Commensal Microbiota in Human Health)

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16 pages, 2247 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Insights into the Role of the Microbiota and of Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Rubinstein–Taybi Syndrome

by Elisabetta Di Fede, Emerenziana Ottaviano, Paolo Grazioli, Camilla Ceccarani, Antonio Galeone, Chiara Parodi, Elisa Adele Colombo, Giulia Bassanini, Grazia Fazio, Marco Severgnini, Donatella Milani, Elvira Verduci, Thomas Vaccari, Valentina Massa, Elisa Borghi and Cristina Gervasini

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(7), 3621; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms22073621 - 31 Mar 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2431

Abstract

The short-chain fatty acid butyrate, produced by the gut microbiota, acts as a potent histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor. We assessed possible ameliorative effects of butyrate, relative to other HDAC inhibitors, in in vitro and in vivo models of Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome (RSTS), a severe neurodevelopmental disorder caused by variants in the genes encoding the histone acetyltransferases CBP and p300. In RSTS cell lines, butyrate led to the patient-specific rescue of acetylation defects at subtoxic concentrations. Remarkably, we observed that the commensal gut microbiota composition in a cohort of RSTS patients is significantly depleted in butyrate-producing bacteria compared to healthy siblings. We demonstrate that the effects of butyrate and the differences in microbiota composition are conserved in a Drosophila melanogaster mutant for CBP, enabling future dissection of the gut–host interactions in an in vivo RSTS model. This study sheds light on microbiota composition in a chromatinopathy, paving the way for novel therapeutic interventions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Commensal Microbiota in Human Health)

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Review

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14 pages, 811 KiB

Open AccessReview

Evidences for a Role of Gut Microbiota in Pathogenesis and Management of Epilepsy

by Jana Amlerova, Jan Šroubek, Francesco Angelucci and Jakub Hort

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(11), 5576; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms22115576 - 25 May 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5470

Abstract

Epilepsy as a chronic neurological disorder is characterized by recurrent, unprovoked epileptic seizures. In about half of the people who suffer from epilepsy, the root cause of the disorder is unknown. In the other cases, different factors can cause the onset of epilepsy. In recent years, the role of gut microbiota has been recognized in many neurological disorders, including epilepsy. These data are based on studies of the gut microbiota–brain axis, a relationship starting by a dysbiosis followed by an alteration of brain functions. Interestingly, epileptic patients may show signs of dysbiosis, therefore the normalization of the gut microbiota may lead to improvement of epilepsy and to greater efficacy of anticonvulsant drugs. In this descriptive review, we analyze the evidences for the role of gut microbiota in epilepsy and hypothesize a mechanism of action of these microorganisms in the pathogenesis and treatment of the disease. Human studies revealed an increased prevalence of Firmicutes in patients with refractory epilepsy. Exposure to various compounds can change microbiota composition, decreasing or exacerbating epileptic seizures. These include antibiotics, epileptic drugs, probiotics and ketogenic diet. Finally, we hypothesize that physical activity may play a role in epilepsy through the modulation of the gut microbiota. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Commensal Microbiota in Human Health)

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