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Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) represents a concern in both human and veterinary medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate potential LA-MRSA transmission between animals and humans in rural settings. To this aim, a study was designed to include 14 farms in Slovenia, which were selected on the basis of a farmer (initial patient) with confirmed LA-MRSA infection and regular animal contacts. On all farms, the initial patients, their household members, animals and barn environment were analysed for the presence of LA-MRSA. In addition, the epidemiologically linked hospital-related LA-MRSA isolates were included to investigate possible nosocomial transmissions. On five farms, LA-MRSA was discovered both in animals and in humans. In total, 49 LA-MRSA isolates of different origins underwent whole-genome sequencing, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and spa typing. All 49 isolates belonged to the sequence type 398 (ST398), spa types t011 and t034, and harboured staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec Vc. High levels of concordance between resistance phenotypes and genotypes were observed. No transmission pairs between animals and initial patients were discovered. However, several isolates originating from farm animals and other household members formed clusters with pairwise distances of ≤14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), indicating recent transmission events. In addition, three closely related isolates (0 SNP) form hospitalized patients were observed, indicating a possible nosocomial transmission. Two hospital-related isolates harboured the immune evasion cluster genes, which are associated with adaptation to the human host however, these two isolates differed in >30 SNPs from the remaining isolates. Characteristics of LA-MRSA from Slovenia reflect those observed previously in other European studies. Immune evasion cluster-positive LA-MRSA ST398 suggests its re-adaptation to the human host and calls for a closer monitoring of such emerging LA-MRSA lineages, in addition to monitoring and preventing the introduction of LA-MRSA from farms to hospitals where transmission is highly plausible.

The underlying mechanisms of probiotics and postbiotics are not well understood, but it is known that both affect the adaptive and innate immune responses. In addition, there is a growing concept that some probiotic strains have common core mechanisms that provide certain health benefits. Here, we aimed to elucidate the signalization of the probiotic bacterial strains Lactobacillus paragasseri K7, Limosilactobacillus fermentum L930BB, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. animalis IM386 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum WCFS1. We showed in in vitro experiments that the tested probiotics exhibit common TLR2‐ and TLR10‐dependent downstream signalling cascades involving inhibition of NF‐κB signal transduction. Under inflammatory conditions, the probiotics activated phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3K)/Akt anti‐apoptotic pathways and protein kinase C (PKC)‐dependent pathways, which led to regulation of the actin cytoskeleton and tight junctions. These pathways contribute to the regeneration of the intestinal epithelium and modulation of the mucosal immune system, which, together with the inhibition of canonical TLR signalling, promote general immune tolerance. With this study we identified shared probiotic mechanisms and were the first to pinpoint the role of anti‐inflammatory probiotic signalling through TLR10.