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The effects of the gut microbiome on the brain and the mechanisms of gut-brain communication have been popular research topics for the past few decades. The term gut-brain axis (GBA) evolved to illustrate how the gut and gut microbiota communicate with the brain. The gut-brain axis is an interplay of the neural, endocrine, immune, and metabolic pathways that help to maintain the brain's homeostasis. Several groups have reported that gut dysbiosis is significantly associated with neuroinflammation, aggregation of amyloid beta, and an increase in oxidative stress during Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Understanding the exact mechanism of how the gut microbiome influences brain function may help develop new therapeutic modalities for AD. This review highlights the functioning of the gut microbiome in AD pathogenesis, the potential beneficial effects of probiotic exopolysaccharides as therapeutic molecules, and the potential benefits of probiotic exopolysaccharides (EPS) as a ray of hope in treating AD.

Inflammation is a complex response to tissue damage and pathogens that can lead to chronic inflammatory disorders and various health complications. Conventional inflammation treatments have limitations, driving the search for alternative approaches. Probiotics have gained attention for their immunomodulatory properties, while paraprobiotics have emerged as a promising anti-inflammatory strategy. Probiotics like Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Saccharomyces, and Bacillus can interact with immune cells through toll-like receptors, triggering the synthesis of anti-inflammatory cytokines and promoting immune cell differentiation. Studies carried out in vivo revealed that TNF- α, TRL4, and NF-κB were downregulated by Lactobacilli species. In contrast, Bifidobacterium species elevated IL-10 and Foxp3. This helps maintain immune balance and reduce hyperinflammatory responses. Probiotic plant-based fermented products also suppressed NF-κB signalling activation and decreased iNOS and COX-2 synthesis. Paraprobiotics, on the other hand, exhibit anti-inflammatory properties and have shown promising results in regulating immune responses and alleviating symptoms in specific inflammatory conditions. They may address concerns related to the viability and safety of live probiotics. This review emphasizes the potential of probiotics, probiotic plant-based fermented products, and paraprobiotics as therapeutic agents for managing inflammatory disorders arising from malnutrition, gut diseases, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders. It discusses in-vitro, in-vivo, and human studies highlighting the role of different probiotic strains, commercially available probiotics, challenges with probiotics, probiotic plant-based fermented products, and paraprobiotics in combating inflammation.

Cells produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a metabolic by-product. ROS molecules trigger oxidative stress as a feedback response that significantly initiates biological processes such as autophagy, apoptosis, and necrosis. Furthermore, extensive research has revealed that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an important ROS entity and plays a crucial role in several physiological processes, including cell differentiation, cell signalling, and apoptosis. However, excessive production of H2O2 has been shown to disrupt biomolecules and cell organelles, leading to an inflammatory response and contributing to the development of health complications such as collagen deposition, aging, liver fibrosis, sepsis, ulcerative colitis, etc. Extracts of different plant species, phytochemicals, and Lactobacillus sp (probiotic) have been reported for their anti-oxidant potential. In this view, the researchers have gained significant interest in exploring the potential plants spp., their phytochemicals, and the potential of Lactobacillus sp. strains that exhibit anti-oxidant properties and health benefits. Thus, the current review focuses on comprehending the information related to the formation of H2O2, the factors influencing it, and their pathophysiology imposed on human health. Moreover, this review also discussed the anti-oxidant potential and role of different extract of plants, Lactobacillus sp. and their fermented products in curbing H2O2‑induced oxidative stress in both in-vitro and in-vivo models via boosting the anti-oxidative activity, inhibiting of important enzyme release and downregulation of cytochrome c, cleaved caspases-3, − 8, and − 9 expression. In particular, this knowledge will assist R&D sections in biopharmaceutical and food industries in developing herbal medicine and probiotics-based or derived food products that can effectively alleviate oxidative stress issues induced by H2O2 generation.

Ovarian cancer most commonly presents at an advanced stage where survival is approximately 30% compared with >80% if diagnosed and treated before disease spreads. Diagnostic capabilities have progressed from surgical staging via laparotomy to image-guided biopsies and immunohistochemistry staining, along with advances in technology and medicine. Despite improvements in diagnostic capabilities, population-level screening for ovarian cancer is not recommended. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are 40–150 nm structures formed when the cellular lipid bilayer invaginates. These structures function in cell signaling, immune responses, cancer progression, and establishing the tumor microenvironment. EVs are found in nearly every bodily fluid, including serum, plasma, ascites, urine, and effusion fluid, and contain molecular cargo from their cell of origin. This cargo can be analyzed to yield information about a possible malignancy. In this review we describe how the cargo of EVs has been studied as biomarkers in ovarian cancer. We bring together studies analyzing evidence for various cargos as ovarian cancer biomarkers. Then, we describe the role of EVs in modulation of the tumor microenvironment. This review also summarizes the therapeutic and translational potential of EVs for their optimal utilization as non-invasive biomarkers for novel treatments against cancer.

The aim of the present study is to utilize bibliometric analytical tools to examine the trends in research publications within the hot spring metagenomics field. To achieve this, an in-depth exploration of the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases was undertaken to recognize scholarly articles within this research domain that were published from 2005 to 2022. As a result, a dataset consisting of 377 articles was obtained. The VOSviewer, RStudio, MS Excel, and MS Access were utilized to investigate the annual publication trend, the most productive journals, organizations/authors/countries, authorship and citation patterns, the most cited documents/articles, and the co-occurrence of keywords. According to the findings, the initial article related to hot spring metagenomics was published in 2005. At the end of 2010, the number of published articles was merely 27. However, since then, there has been a significant rise in the yearly number of publications, and post-2010, more than 20 articles have been published every year. The countries with the highest publication output in the field of hot spring metagenomics from 2005 to 2022 were the United States, India, China, and Japan. Montana State university, University of Nevada, Pennsylvania State University, and Bigelow laboratory for ocean sciences all from US have been most active organizations working in this field. The authors who have the highest number of citations, with Ward M. having 1202 and Bryant A. having 1173, also have the greatest total link strength (TLS) of 643 and 653, respectively. Around 11.40 % of the articles published across various sources and journals were contributed by Frontiers in Microbiology, which had the highest number of publications. Bryant's research article, published in 2007 in the Science journal, about phototrophic microbial mats in alkaline siliceous hot springs, has the highest citation score of 292 as of 2022. This research provides a comprehensive overview of the research landscape in hot spring metagenomics and to identify research trends, patterns, and knowledge gaps in this field. This information could be used by researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to make informed decisions about future research directions and priorities in hot spring metagenomics.

With the enormous increase in population and industrial network, the harmful pollutants affecting biota have also escalated. The pollutants are consumed by living organisms directly or indirectly reducing animal and economic wellbeing. The degradation of contaminants is imperative owing to the prolonged persistence of contaminants like plastics, heavy metals, pesticides, dyes, pharmaceuticals, and hydrocarbons. Remediation of such pollutants requires efficient methods to prevent mobilizing-contaminants leaching into soil and finally to human beings. In this regard, metagenomics (MGs), a non-culturable technique, involving the direct recovery of the genetic material from environmental samples is an effective tool for understanding the remediation process mediated by microorganisms and their gene products like enzymes. MGs offers a gateway to previously hidden microbial communities grown in the normal and extreme environment through sequence-based or function-based approaches. The culture-independent MGs approach in combination with other meta-omics approaches involves an easy and rapid method for the selection of remediation-efficient microbes. This paper elucidates the negative implications of several contaminants on terrestrial and aquatic biota besides highlighting the role of MGs and associated meta-omics approaches in characterizing contaminant degrading microbes. The MGs research related to bioremediation can help to generate information that will improve the bioremediation process and aid in deciphering the complete microbe-mediated bioremediation mechanism pathways. In future MGs can be helpful to comprehensively understand the mechanisms involved in efficient bioremediation, develop new strategies and models for application in rapid, accurate and efficient bioremediation process and optimize the bioremediation technique. Furthermore, the application of metagenomics to determine microbial diversity and specific genes can act as pollution biomarkers.

Purpose: Management of adult soft tissue sarcomas entails a multidisciplinary approach with surgery and radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy. The use of preoperative irradiation has been well established, and although conventional fractionation involves daily treatments over the course of 5 weeks, higher doses per fraction may be beneficial due to the radiobiologic profile of sarcoma. In this study we report long-term oncologic outcomes from a single-institution, phase II study evaluating a 5-fraction hypofractionated course of preoperative radiation. Methods and materials: Preoperative hypofractionated radiation therapy was administered to 35 Gy in 5 fractions every other day followed by resection 4 to 6 weeks later. If given, chemotherapy consisted of a doxorubicin-ifosfamide-based regimen delivered neoadjuvantly. The primary endpoint was local control. Additional survival and pathologic outcomes, including overall and distant metastasis-free survival, tumor, and treatment-related pathology, as well as acute and late toxicity were examined. Results: Thirty-two patients were enrolled in this prospective, single-arm phase II trial. At a median follow-up of 36.4 months (range, 3-56), no patient developed a local recurrence, and the 3-year overall and distant metastasis-free survival was 82.2% and 69%, respectively. Major acute postoperative wound complications occurred in 25% of patients. Grade 2 and 3 fibrosis occurred in 21.7% and 13% of patients, respectively. The 2-year median and mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score for all patients was 28 and 27.4, respectively. Conclusions: A condensed course of preoperative hypofractionated radiation therapy leads to excellent rates of local control and survival with acceptable toxicity profiles. Potential studies ideally with phase II or III randomized trials would help corroborate these findings and other preoperative hypofractionated results in soft tissue sarcomas.