ABSTRACT
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, but none of the current treatments for PD can halt the progress of the disease due to the limited understanding of the pathogenesis. In PD development, the communication between the brain and the gastrointestinal system influenced by gut microbiota is known as microbiota-gut-brain axis. However, the explicit mechanisms of microbiota dysbiosis in PD development have not been well elucidated yet. FLZ, a novel squamosamide derivative, has been proved to be effective in many PD models and is undergoing the phase I clinical trial to treat PD in China. Moreover, our previous pharmacokinetic study revealed that gut microbiota could regulate the absorption of FLZ
ABSTRACT
ProBiotic-4 is a probiotic preparation composed of , , , and . This study aims to investigate the effects of ProBiotic-4 on the microbiota-gut-brain axis and cognitive deficits, and to explore the underlying molecular mechanism using senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice. ProBiotic-4 was orally administered to 9-month-old SAMP8 mice for 12 weeks. We observed that ProBiotic-4 significantly improved the memory deficits, cerebral neuronal and synaptic injuries, glial activation, and microbiota composition in the feces and brains of aged SAMP8 mice. ProBiotic-4 substantially attenuated aging-related disruption of the intestinal barrier and blood-brain barrier, decreased interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor- at both mRNA and protein levels, reduced plasma and cerebral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) concentration, toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression, and nuclear factor-B (NF-B) nuclear translocation in the brain. In addition, not only did ProBiotic-4 significantly decreased the levels of -H2AX, 8-hydroxydesoxyguanosine, and retinoic-acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I), it also abrogated RIG-I multimerization in the brain. These findings suggest that targeting gut microbiota with probiotics may have a therapeutic potential for the deficits of the microbiota-gut-brain axis and cognitive function in aging, and that its mechanism is associated with inhibition of both TLR4-and RIG-I-mediated NF-B signaling pathway and inflammatory responses.
ABSTRACT
Background: Harbouring of potential pathogens in operationtheatres (OTs) and intensive care units (ICUs) of hospital is amajor cause of patient’s morbidity and mortality. Environmentalmonitoring by the microbiological testing of surfaces andequipments is useful to detect changing trends of types andcounts of microbial flora. High level of microbial contaminationindicates the needs for periodic surveillance aimed at earlydetection of bacterial contamination levels and prevention ofhospital acquired infections.Aim: The aims of the study were to count CFU (colony formingunit) rate of indoor air, to identify bacterial colonization ofsurface and equipments isolated from Operation theatres, ICUsand Labour room of a teaching hospital in district Kangra,Himachal Pradesh.Methods: This retrospective study, analyzing themicrobiological surveillance data from OTs over a period of 2years from January2017 to December2018 was conducted at atertiary care hospital. Air sampling of 8 OT’s, 4 ICU’s and 1 LRwere done by settle plate method. Swabs were taken fromdifferent sites, equipments and bacterial species were isolatedand identified from them as per standard guidelines.Result: A total of 105 air samples were collected for 2 yearfrom 8 OT’s, 4 ICU’s and 1 LR. The bacterial CFU/m3 /mincounts of air from all OTs ranged from Superspeciality OTSshowed less bacterial CFU rate of air (0-5 CFU/m3) followed byOpthalmology OT (5-8 CFU/m3) and highest in Gynae (30-46CFU/m3). CCU showed less bacterial CFU rate (10-15CFU/m3) followed by Surgery ICU (28-35 CFU/m3) and highestin PICU (38-42 CFU/m3), Labour room showed 42-51 CFU/m3.Bacterial species were isolated from 43.85 % out of total 157swab samples taken from all OTs and ICUs. The mostcommon isolate was Bacillus species 46% followed by CONS(22%). Pathogenic organisms isolated were 10% Gramnegative bacilli which included 3% Non-Fermenters, thecommon isolate was Klebsiella spp. amongst gram negatives.