The critical role of gut-brain axis microbiome in mental disorders.

The Gut-brain axis is a bidirectional neural and humoral signaling that plays an important role in mental disorders and intestinal health and connects them as well. Over the past decades, the gut microbiota has been explored as an important part of the gastrointestinal tract that plays a crucial role in the regulation of most functions of various human organs. The evidence shows several mediators such as short-chain fatty acids, peptides, and neurotransmitters that are produced by the gut may affect the brain's function directly or indirectly. Thus, dysregulation in this microbiome community can give rise to several diseases such as Parkinson's disease, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, and Alzheimer's disease. So, the interactions between the gut and the brain are significantly considered, and also it provides a prominent subject to investigate the causes of some diseases. In this article, we reviewed and focused on the role of the largest and most repetitive bacterial community and their relevance with some diseases that they have mentioned previously.

The effect of selenium supplementation on disease activity and immune-inflammatory biomarkers in patients with mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

PURPOSE: Selenium (Se) supplementation may help reduce inflammation and disease activity in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. We investigated the therapeutic effects of Se administration in cases with mild-to-moderate active UC. METHODS: A multicenter, double-blind, randomized clinical trial (RCT) was conducted on 100 cases with active mild-to-moderate UC. The patients were randomly allocated to be given an oral selenomethionine capsule (200 mcg/day, n = 50) or a placebo capsule (n = 50) for 10 weeks. The primary outcome was defined as disease activity via the Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index (SCCAI), and secondary outcomes were measured at the end of the study. RESULTS: After 10 weeks, the SCCAI score's mean was reduced in the Se group (P < 0.001). At the end of the intervention, clinical improvement (decline of 3 ≥ score from baseline score) was observed in 19 patients (38%) of the Se group and 3 patients (6%) of the placebo group. The patients with clinical remission (defined as SCCAI ≤ 2) were assigned in the Se group (P = 0.014). The Se group's quality of life and Se serum levels were enhanced at the end of the study (P < 0/001). In the Se group, the mean concentration of interleukin-17 decreased (P < 0/001). However, the levels of interleukin-10 showed no considerable change between the two groups in the 10th week (P = 0.23). CONCLUSION: Se supplementation as add-on therapy with medical management induced remission and improved the quality of life in patients with active mild-to-moderate UC. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER AND DATE OF REGISTRATION: IRCT20091114002709N51; 2020-04-13.

Obesity, a challenge in the management of inflammatory bowel diseases.

Obesity, a morbid condition snowballing in the world, may cause many health issues in healthy and ill people. Many disorders are known to be influenced by obesity, mainly in a catastrophic way, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Many studies sought to determine the effects that obesity prompts IBD. Some of them indicate that obesity is associated with poor outcomes. There is no consistency regarding the correlation between obesity and IBDs due to the equivocal nature of obesity and the shortage of extensive and reliable investigations. However, to a worldwide consensus, obesity has a unique disease burden and can cause poor prognosis when it accompanies other ailments. Here, we have reviewed some of the alterations and impacts that obesity may impose on the pathogenesis and clinical management of IBD. Conclusively, inflammatory processes of IBD are reinforced by obesity. Furthermore, as a two-way road, obesity can be caused by IBD. However, autoimmunity in IBD is not found to have a consistent relationship with obesity. Although, medical and surgical treatments of IBD are affected by obesity in terms of their efficacy and outcomes. The most important aspect of obesity that can influence the course of disease management is associated with significant disabilities that obesity may cause rather than a metabolic or molecular rationale.

Serological response to SARS-CoV-2 is attenuated in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and can affect immunization.

In this study we indicated that impaired serological responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients with IBD, could have significant implications for this group of patients and should be considered in vaccination program.

The emerging epidemic of inflammatory bowel disease in Asia and Iran by 2035: A modeling study.

BACKGROUND: The projection studies are imperative to satisfy demands for health care systems and proper response to the public health problems such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: To accomplish this, we established an illness-death model based on available data to project the future prevalence of IBD in Asia, Iran in particular, separately from 2017 to 2035. We applied two deterministic and stochastic approaches. RESULTS: In 2035, as compared to 2020, we expected a 2.5-fold rise in prevalence for Iran with 69 thousand cases, a 2.3-fold increment for North Africa and the Middle East with 220 thousand cases, quadrupling of the prevalence for India with 2.2 million cases, a 1.5-fold increase for East Asia region with 4.5 million cases, and a 1.6-fold elevation in prevalence for high-income Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia regions with 183 and 199 thousand cases respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed an emerging epidemic for the prevalence of IBD in Asia regions and/or countries. Hence, we suggest the need for immediate action to control this increasing trend in Asia and Iran. However, we were virtually unable to use information about age groups, gender, and other factors influencing the evolution of IBD in our model due to lack of access to reliable data.

Immunomodulation and Generation of Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells by Probiotic Bacteria in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

In inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), the therapeutic benefit and mucosal healing from specific probiotics may relate to the modulation of dendritic cells (DCs). Herein, we assessed the immunomodulatory effects of four probiotic strains including Lactobacillus salivarius, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bacillus coagulans and Bacillus subtilis natto on the expression of co-stimulatory molecules, cytokine production and gene expression of signal-transducing receptors in DCs from IBD patients. Human monocyte-derived DCs from IBD patients and healthy controls were exposed to four probiotic strains. The expression of co-stimulatory molecules was assessed and supernatants were analyzed for anti-inflammatory cytokines. The gene expression of toll-like receptors (TLRs), IL-12p40 and integrin αvß8 were also analyzed. CD80 and CD86 were induced by most probiotic strains in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients whereas only B. bifidum induced CD80 and CD86 expression in Crohn's disease (CD) patients. IL-10 and TGF-ß production was increased in a dose-independent manner while TLR expression was decreased by all probiotic bacteria except B. bifidum in DCs from UC patients. TLR-4 and TLR-9 expression was significantly downregulated while integrin ß8 was significantly increased in the DCs from CD patients. IL-12p40 expression was only significantly downregulated in DCs from CD patients. Our findings point to the general beneficial effects of probiotics in DC immunomodulation and indicate that probiotic bacteria favorably modulate the expression of co-stimulatory molecules, proinflammatory cytokines and TLRs in DCs from IBD patients.

Alterations of the human gut Methanobrevibacter smithii as a biomarker for inflammatory bowel diseases.

It is hypothesized that direct and indirect homeostasis between gut microbiota plays a key role in different intestine disorders. Archaea methanogens, an ancient domain of single-celled organism, are major archaea in the digestive system. Recent evidence has shown that the variable prevalence of methanogens in different individuals could have certain effects on inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). We aimed to assess the prevalence of Methanobrevibacter smithii between Iranian patients suffering from IBD and healthy control subjects. Stool DNA extracts from 47 healthy controls and 61 IBD patients were investigated. Quantitative real time PCR was performed for detecting Mbb. smithii load. We found a significantly decreased the Mbb. smithii load between IBD patients and healthy subjects. It is assumed that there is a reverse association between Mbb. smithii bacterial load and susceptibility to IBD, and this association could be extended to IBD patients in remission as we found that Mbb. smithii bacterial load is markedly higher among healthy subjects in comparison to IBD patients.