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Peripartum antibiotics can negatively impact the developing gut microbiome and are associated with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The mechanisms by which peripartum antibiotics increase the risk of NEC and strategies that can help mitigate this risk remain poorly understood. In this study, we determined mechanisms by which peripartum antibiotics increase neonatal gut injury and evaluated whether probiotics protect against gut injury potentiated by peripartum antibiotics. To accomplish this objective, we administered broad-spectrum antibiotics or sterile water to pregnant C57BL6 mice and induced neonatal gut injury to their pups with formula feeding. We found that pups exposed to antibiotics had reduced villus height, crypt depth, and intestinal olfactomedin 4 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen compared to the controls, indicating that peripartum antibiotics impaired intestinal proliferation. When formula feeding was used to induce NEC-like injury, more severe intestinal injury and apoptosis were observed in the pups exposed to antibiotics compared to the controls. Supplementation with the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) reduced the severity of formula-induced gut injury potentiated by antibiotics. Increased intestinal proliferating cell nuclear antigen and activation of the Gpr81-Wnt pathway were noted in the pups supplemented with LGG, suggesting partial restoration of intestinal proliferation by probiotics. We conclude that peripartum antibiotics potentiate neonatal gut injury by inhibiting intestinal proliferation. LGG supplementation decreases gut injury by activating the Gpr81-Wnt pathway and restoring intestinal proliferation impaired by peripartum antibiotics. Our results suggest that postnatal probiotics may be effective in mitigating the increased risk of NEC associated with peripartum antibiotic exposure in preterm infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bireactant autopoly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) (EC 2.4.2.30) was carried out by using either increasing concentrations of β-NAD[sup +] (donor substrate) at a fixed protein concentration or increasing concentrations of PARP (acceptor substrate) at a fixed β-NAD[sup +] concentration. The [[sup 32]P]ADP-ribose polymers synthesized were chemically detached from PARP by alkaline hydrolysis of the monoester bond between the carboxylate moiety of Glu and the polymer. Nucleic acid-like polymers were then analyzed by high-resolution polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. The ADP-ribose chain lengths observed displayed substrate concentration-dependent elongation from 0.2 θM to 2 mM β-NAD[sup +]. Similar results were observed at fixed concentrations of 4.5, 9, 18, 27, and 36 nM PARP. Therefore, we conclude that the concentration of the ADP-ribose donor substrate determines the average chain length of the polymer synthesized. In contrast, the polymer size was unaltered when the concentration of PARP was varied from 4.5 to 18 nM at a fixed β-NAD[sup +] concentration. However, when PARP concentrations > 18 nM were used, the total amount of monomeric ADP-ribose produced was noticeably less. Therefore, we conclude that high concentrations of PARP lead to acceptor substrate inhibition at the level of the ADP-ribose chain initiation reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection has been associated with chronic lung disease. Treatment of chronic pulmonary mycoplasmosis has not been well investigated. BALB/c mice were intranasally inoculated once with M. pneumoniae or with sterile media (uninfected controls). Infected mice were treated with telithromycin or placebo daily for 10 days in the chronic phase of disease (18 months after inoculation). Mice (n =43) were evaluated before therapy and 1 day after completion of telithromycin. Treatment of infected mice with telithromycin at 18 months after infection significantly reduced chronic pulmonary histological inflammation compared with infected mice given placebo; however, this treatment did not improve airway obstruction or airway hyperresponsiveness. Therapy longer than 10 days may be necessary to improve pulmonary function. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The genetic basis of neonatal COVID-19 infection, which exhibits a range of severity, has not been investigated. We identified both shared and unique genetic variants involved in antiviral immune responses through whole exome sequencing of an infant who developed severe COVID-19 pneumonia and multisystem inflammatory syndrome and the twin brother also positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2, but with only moderate respiratory symptoms., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)