Search

Probiotics have been described to influence host health and prevent the risk of obesity by gut microbiome (GM) modulation. In a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled feasibility study, we investigated whether Vivomixx® multi-strain probiotics administered to 50 women with obesity during pregnancy altered the GM composition and perinatal health outcomes of their infants up to 9 months after birth. The mothers and infants were followed up with four visits after birth: at 3 d, and at 3, 6, and 9 months after delivery. The infants were monitored by anthropometric measurements, fecal sample analysis, and questionnaires regarding health and diet. The study setup after birth was feasible, and the women and infants were willing to participate in additional study visits and collection of fecal samples during the 9-month follow-up. In total, 47 newborns were included for microbiome analysis. Maternal prenatal Vivomixx® administration did not alter infant GM diversity nor differential abundance, and the probiotic strains were not vertically transferred. However, the infant GM exhibited a decreased prevalence of the obesity-associated genera, Collinsella, in the probiotic group and of the metabolic health-associated Akkermansia in the placebo group, indicating that indirect community-scale effects of Vivomixx® on the GM of the mothers could be transferred to the infant. Moreover, 3 d after birth, the GM of the infant was influenced by mode of delivery and antibiotics administered during birth. Vaginally delivered infants had increased diversity and relative abundance of the metabolic health-associated Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides while having a decreased relative abundance of Enterococcus compared with infants delivered by cesarean section. Maternal antibiotic administration during birth resulted in a decreased relative abundance of Bifidobacteriumin the GM of the infants. In conclusion, this study observed potential effects on obesity-assoc, Probiotics have been described to influence host health and prevent the risk of obesity by gut microbiome (GM) modulation. In a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled feasibility study, we investigated whether Vivomixx® multi-strain probiotics administered to 50 women with obesity during pregnancy altered the GM composition and perinatal health outcomes of their infants up to 9 months after birth. The mothers and infants were followed up with four visits after birth: at 3 d, and at 3, 6, and 9 months after delivery. The infants were monitored by anthropometric measurements, fecal sample analysis, and questionnaires regarding health and diet.The study setup after birth was feasible, and the women and infants were willing to participate in additional study visits and collection of fecal samples during the 9-month follow-up. In total, 47 newborns were included for microbiome analysis.Maternal prenatal Vivomixx® administration did not alter infant GM diversity nor differential abundance, and the probiotic strains were not vertically transferred. However, the infant GM exhibited a decreased prevalence of the obesity-associated genera, Collinsella, in the probiotic group and of the metabolic health-associated Akkermansia in the placebo group, indicating that indirect community-scale effects of Vivomixx® on the GM of the mothers could be transferred to the infant.Moreover, 3 d after birth, the GM of the infant was influenced by mode of delivery and antibiotics administered during birth. Vaginally delivered infants had increased diversity and relative abundance of the metabolic health-associated Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides while having a decreased relative abundance of Enterococcus compared with infants delivered by cesarean section. Maternal antibiotic administration during birth resulted in a decreased relative abundance of Bifidobacteriumin the GM of the infants. In conclusion, this study observed potential effects on obesity-associated infant GM after mater

Background: The tick-borne bacterium, Neoehrlichia mikurensis (N. mikurensis) can cause severe febrile illness and thromboembolic complications in immunocompromised individuals. We investigated the presence of N. mikurensis DNA in retrospectively collected plasma from a well-characterized cohort of Danish immunocompromised patients. Methods: Plasma samples from 239 patients with immune dysfunction related to hematological or rheumatological disease or due to immunosuppressive therapy, were retrieved from a transdisciplinary biobank (PERSIMUNE) at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. Serving as immunocompetent controls, plasma samples from 192 blood donors were included. All samples were collected between 2015 and 2019. Real-time PCR targeting the groEL gene was used to detect N. mikurensis DNA. Sequencing was used for confirmation. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato IgG antibodies were detected by ELISA as a proxy of tick exposure. Prevalence was compared using Fisher’s exact test. Results: Neoehrlichia mikurensis DNA was detected in 3/239 (1.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.3 – 3.6%) patients, all of whom primarily had a hematological disease. Follow-up samples of these patients were negative. N. mikurensis DNA was not detected in any of the blood donor samples. IgG antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. were detected with similar prevalence in immunocompromised patients and blood donors, i.e., 18/239 (7.5%, 95% CI: 4.8–11.5%) and 11/192 (5.7%, 95%: CI 3.2–10.0%). Conclusion: In this study, patients with N. mikurensis were not identified by clinical indication and N. mikurensis may therefore be underdiagnosed in Danish patients. Further investigations are needed to explore the clinical significance and implications of this infection.

Introduction: The infant gut microbiome undergoes dynamic changes during the first year of life, with the initial colonization by facultative anaerobes like Escherichia coli giving way to strict anaerobes. Despite being a pioneer species of the human gut, information on the establishment and maintenance of E. coli at the strain-level in the infant gut and its effect on microbial maturation and community assembly remains poorly understood. This study aims to provide a comprehensive longitudinal characterization of E. coli in the infant gut microbiome, shedding light on its diversity, prevalence, and dynamics during the first year of life. Methods: Approximately 700 E. coli isolates were collected from 172 infants in the COPSAC2010 cohort at 1-week, 1-month, and 1-year, and whole-genome sequenced. Additionally, we combined the metagenomes from the 1-month and 1-year infant gut to analyze the phylotype and clone complexes of E. coli present in all 662 children in the cohort. Results: We clustered the isolates into different clades based on phylogenomic and analyzed their differences in respect to the number/type of genes related to antibiotic resistance, plasmids, prophages, anti-phage defense systems, surface adhesion proteins, and secreted proteins all likely to contribute to persistence. We found that the E. coli B2 phylotype was the most prevalent and persistent in infants, and the functional profiles potentially underlying this phylotype were elucidated. We also explore the competitive dynamics between E. coli and strict anaerobes present in early life. Furthermore, we plan to explore how these dynamics were influenced by the infant’s exposure history. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that E. coli plays a crucial role in the early development of the infant gut microbiome, with the E. coli B2 phylotype being a key player. The study underscores the imp

For patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), administration of the probiotic E. coli Nissle (EcN) holds promise for alleviation of disease symptoms. The mechanisms are unclear, but it has been hypothesised that a capacity of the probiotic to outcompete potentially detrimental UC-associated E. coli strains plays an important role. However, this could previously not be confirmed in a mouse model of competition between EcN and two UC-associated strains, as reported by Petersen et al. 2011. In the present study, we re-evaluated the idea, hypothesising that delivery of EcN by a micro device dosing system (microcontainers), designed for delivery into the intestinal mucus, could support colonisation and confer a competition advantage compared to classical oral dosing. Six groups of mice were pre-colonised with one of two UC-associated E. coli strains followed by oral delivery of EcN, either in capsules containing microcontainers with freeze-dried EcN powder, capsules containing freeze-dried EcN powder, or as a fresh sucrose suspension. Co-colonisation between the probiotic and the disease-associated strains was observed regardless of dosing method, and no competition advantages linked to microcontainer delivery were identified within this setup. Other approaches are thus needed if the competitive capacity of EcN in the gut should be improved.

Background: Accurate blood type data are essential for blood bank management, but due to costs, few of 43 blood group systems are routinely determined in Danish blood banks. However, a more comprehensive dataset of blood types is useful in scenarios such as rare blood type allocation. We aimed to investigate the viability and accuracy of predicting blood types by leveraging an existing dataset of imputed genotypes for two cohorts of approximately 90,000 each (Danish Blood Donor Study and Copenhagen Biobank) and present a more comprehensive overview of blood types for our Danish donor cohort. Study Design and Methods: Blood types were predicted from genome array data using known variant determinants. Prediction accuracy was confirmed by comparing with preexisting serological blood types. The Vel blood group was used to test the viability of using genetic prediction to narrow down the list of candidate donors with rare blood types. Results: Predicted phenotypes showed a high balanced accuracy >99.5% in most cases: A, B, C/c, Coa/Cob, Doa/Dob, E/e, Jka/Jkb, Kna/Knb, Kpa/Kpb, M/N, S/s, Sda, Se, and Yta/Ytb, while some performed slightly worse: Fya/Fyb, K/k, Lua/Lub, and Vel ~99%–98% and CW and P1 ~96%. Genetic prediction identified 70 potential Vel negatives in our cohort, 64 of whom were confirmed correct using polymerase chain reaction (negative predictive value: 91.5%). Discussion: High genetic prediction accuracy in most blood groups demonstrated the viability of generating blood types using preexisting genotype data at no cost and successfully narrowed the pool of potential individuals with the rare Vel-negative phenotype from 180,000 to 70.

We investigated if diarrhoea-causing bacteria, including Yersinia species, could mimic the symptoms of appendicitis and lead to surgery. This prospective observational cohort study (NCT03349814) included adult patients undergoing surgery for suspected appendicitis. Rectal swabs were analysed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Yersinia, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella and Aeromonas spp. Blood samples were analysed routinely and with an in-house ELISA serological test for Yersinia enterocolitica antibodies. We compared patients without appendicitis and patients with appendicitis confirmed by histopathology. The outcomes included PCR-confirmed infection with Yersinia spp., serologic-confirmed infection with Y. enterocolitica, PCR-confirmed infection with other diarrhoea-causing bacteria and Enterobius vermicularis confirmed by histopathology. A total of 224 patients were included, 51 without and 173 with appendicitis, and followed for 10 days. PCR-confirmed infection with Yersinia spp. was found in one patient (2%) without appendicitis and no patients (0%) with appendicitis (p = 0.23). Serology was positive for Y. enterocolitica for the same patient without appendicitis and two patients with appendicitis (p = 0.54). Campylobacter spp. were detected in 4% vs 1% (p = 0.13) of patients without and with appendicitis, respectively. Infection with Yersinia spp. and other diarrhoea-causing microorganisms in adult patients undergoing surgery for suspected appendicitis was rare., We investigated if diarrhoea-causing bacteria, including Yersinia species, could mimic the symptoms of appendicitis and lead to surgery. This prospective observational cohort study (NCT03349814) included adult patients undergoing surgery for suspected appendicitis. Rectal swabs were analysed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Yersinia, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella and Aeromonas spp. Blood samples were analysed routinely and with an in-house ELISA serological test for Yersinia enterocolitica antibodies. We compared patients without appendicitis and patients with appendicitis confirmed by histopathology. The outcomes included PCR-confirmed infection with Yersinia spp., serologic-confirmed infection with Y. enterocolitica, PCR-confirmed infection with other diarrhoea-causing bacteria and Enterobius vermicularis confirmed by histopathology. A total of 224 patients were included, 51 without and 173 with appendicitis, and followed for 10 days. PCR-confirmed infection with Yersinia spp. was found in one patient (2%) without appendicitis and no patients (0%) with appendicitis (p = 0.23). Serology was positive for Y. enterocolitica for the same patient without appendicitis and two patients with appendicitis (p = 0.54). Campylobacter spp. were detected in 4% vs 1% (p = 0.13) of patients without and with appendicitis, respectively. Infection with Yersinia spp. and other diarrhoea-causing microorganisms in adult patients undergoing surgery for suspected appendicitis was rare.

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a relapsing nontransmural inflammatory disease that is restricted to the colon and is characterized by flare-ups of bloody diarrhea. In this study, we aimed to investigate intestinal bacterial diversity in healthy controls and patients with UC with and without active disease, from Ghana and Denmark.Methods: The study included 18 UC patients (9 with active and 9 with inactive disease) and 18 healthy controls from Ghana. In addition 16 UC patients from Denmark (8 UC with active and 8 UC with inactive disease) and 19 healthy controls from Denmark. Microbiota diversity analysis relied on sequencing of ribosomal small subunit genes. Purified genomic DNA was submitted to PCR using a primer set targeting prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The purified DNA was sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq system in a 2 × 250 bp set up (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). Blinded analysis of the taxonomy table was performed using BioNumerics-7.5 (Applied Maths NV, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium).Results: When analyzing the taxonomy data for prokaryotes, cluster and principal component analysis shows Danish healthy controls clustered together, but separate from healthy controls from Ghana, which also clustered together. The Shannon diversity index (SDI) for prokaryotes shows significant differences between Danish healthy controls and patients in comparison with the corresponding groups from Ghana ( p = 0.0056). Significant increased abundance of Escherichia coli was detected in healthy controls from Ghana in comparison with healthy controls from Denmark. The SDI of the prokaryotes ranges between 0 and 3.1 in the Ghana study groups, while in the Danish study groups it ranges between 1.4 and 3.2, the difference is however not significant ( p = 0.138). Our data show a significant increased abundance of eukaryotes species in the healthy control group from Ghana and Denmark in comparison with patient groups from Ghana and Denmark. Conclusion: Over