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The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is revolutionizing pest control through its environmentally friendly approach, which involves rearing and sterilizing male insect pests using ionizing radiation and subsequently releasing them into the field to mate with wild females without producing offspring. Recent research has unveiled a groundbreaking enhancement in the quality of released Ceratitis capitata (medfly) males through the addition of probiotics to their larval diet. To thoroughly examine the impact of probiotic supplementation on the medfly larval diet, we conducted an in-depth analysis with GC-MS from medfly extract supplemented with probiotic Enterobacter sp. strain. The supplementation revealed a notable difference in the metabolomic signature compared to non-supplemented extract across all medfly life stages. We identified 37 known metabolites for all the stages, 12 of them were identified as biomarkers for the larval stage, 12 for the pupal stage, and 13 for the adult stage exhibiting crucial activities such as anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and sexual and aggregation pheromone. These findings underscore the considerable potential of SIT combined with probiotic supplementation for enhancing sustainable pest control strategies worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitral annular calcification (MAC) is a chronic degenerative process often observed as an incidental finding alongside other cardiac pathologies, complicating surgical intervention and raising morbidity and mortality rates especially in elderly. The aim of our study was to identify the hemodynamic and clinical implications of MAC in patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). We conducted a prospective study enrolling patients with severe calcified aortic stenosis who underwent aortic valve replacement via TAVI or SAVR between 2016 and 2023. We evaluated the association between MAC and postoperative complications. Our study included 66 patients with severe aortic stenosis (mean age of 72 ± 10 years). Hypertension was the most prevalent cardiovascular risk factor (56%). In all, 18.1% of patients had a history of coronary artery revascularization. A total, 18.1% had chronic kidney disease (1.5% under dialysis). Three percent had a history of chest radiation exposure. MAC was noted in 25.8%, with 70.6% classified as mild to moderate and 29.4% as severe. Mitral valve disease was observed in 22.2% of patients (moderate in 83.3%, severe in 16.7%). Immediate postoperative cardiovascular complications were noted in 18.2% of patients: 3% had an obstructive prosthesis, 10.6% required emergency pacemaker implantation due to complete atrioventricular block, 3% suffered a stroke, and 9.1% developed heart failure. During follow-up, 13.6% of patients experienced worsening dyspnea, leading to hospitalization in 10.6% of cases. Mortality rate reached 15.2%. Patients with MAC experienced a notably higher rate of immediate postoperative complications compared to those without MAC (47.1% vs. 8.2%, P = 0.001). Furthermore, MAC demonstrated significant associations with acute heart failure (P = 0.034, OR = 7), complete atrioventricular block (P = 0.01, OR = 9), and aortic regurgitation (P < 0.001, OR = 14). Throughout the follow-up period, MAC showed a significant correlation with worsening dyspnea (P = 0.042, OR = 4.8). However, our study did not find a significant association between MAC and mortality. In our study, 25.8% of patients had MAC alongside severe aortic stenosis. Among those undergoing aortic valve replacement, MAC was associated with higher rates of post-procedural complications and worsened dyspnea during follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart failure (HF) is a major public-health problem. Recognition of predictors of an unfavourable outcome in HF is very important. With time many scores have been used to evaluate prognostic in HF. AHEAD score is based on the analysis of co-morbidities for the estimation of the short and long term prognosis of patients hospitalized for AHF. The aim of this paper is to find a correlation between AHEAD score and both mortality and re-hospitalization. In this prospective study we enrolled 108 patients admitted to our cardiology department between 2021 and 2023 for acute HF. AHEAD score was calculated for each patient and the correlation between this ratio and mortality, re-hospitalizations, was studied. The mean age was 63.5 ± 11.9 years (79.6% men). Ischemic HF was the most common etiology (57.4%). Of these patients 30.6% were aged > 70 years, 28.7% had atrial fibrillation (AF), 42.2% had diabetes mellitus, 23.1% had anemia, and 16.7% had creatinine > 130 mmol/l. The mean AHEAD score was 1.4 ± 1. No patient had a score equal to 5. The one-year mortality rates in patients with AHEAD score of 0 to 4 were 0%, 2.5%, 10.7%, 0%, 40% respectively. The re-hospitalization rates in patients with AHEAD score of 0 to 4 were 8.7%, 5%, 17.9%, 0%, 20% respectively. The ROC curve analysis revealed a correlation between the AHEAD score and the occurrence of mortality (AUC = 0.763, P = 0.031) with a cutoff value of 2 with a sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 60.8%. No correlation was found between the AHEAD score and re-hospitalization. Our findings show that the AHEAD score estimates with good performance the mortality in patients with AHF. These results provide new insights into the evaluation of AHF patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart failure (HF) continues to be a prevalent condition with high morbidity and mortality despite numerous therapeutic advances. Thus, we created a Heart Failure Therapeutic Unit (HFTU) to optimize medical treatment promptly. Primary objective: to study the impact of the HFTU on reducing cardiovascular mortality and heart failure rehospitalizations at 1 year. Secondary objectives: to study the impact of the HFTU on treatment dose optimization and patient therapeutic adherence. We conducted a prospective, longitudinal, and single-center study at our cardiology department, with a follow-up period of 1 year. We included 159 patients with chronic HF (108 were included in the HFTU group and 51 in the control group). Patients included in the HFTU group received more frequent follow-up, early initiation of medical treatment with rapid progression to optimal doses, and transition to second-line treatments if there was no improvement and if indicated. The control group received standard care. The average age was 62.5 ± 11.7 years, with a male predominance (80.5%), and a high prevalence of diabetes (44%); ischemic cardiomyopathy was the dominant etiology (57.9%), with a mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 31.6 ± 8%. The most common inclusion criterion in the HFTU group was the absence of optimal medical treatment (97.2%). We observed a significant reduction in cardiovascular mortality and HF rehospitalizations at 1 year, as well as a significant decrease in HF rehospitalizations at 1 year in the UTIC group compared to the control group (15.7% vs 41.2%; P < 0.001; 11.1% vs 35.3%; P < 0.001 respectively), regardless of age, gender, and comorbidities (P < 0.001). Acquisition of optimal medical treatment (P < 0.001) and therapeutic adherence (P = 0.015) were more frequent in the HFTU group. We noted an improvement in dyspnea (P = 0.003), in LVEF (from ≤ 40% to > 40%) (P < 0.001) and in heart rate control (HR < 70 bpm) (P < 0.001) in the HFTU group compared to the control group. HFTU was associated with a significant reduction in the combined endpoint of cardiovascular mortality and heart failure rehospitalizations, as well as a decrease in heart failure rehospitalizations. Additionally, it was associated with more therapeutic optimization and adherence, and an improvement in symptoms, LVEF, and heart rate control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The singular leaflet mitral valve is a rare and complex entity that has been described in only a few case reports. It is commonly observed in infancy and combined with symptomatic mitral regurgitation (MR). In most asymptomatic individuals, this complication is attributed mainly to a hypoplastic posterior mitral leaflet and is usually revealed in adulthood. We present the case of a 30-year-old man who presented with chest pain and dyspnea for two days. The electrocardiogram showed complete atrioventricular block with a beat rate of 30 bpm. Echocardiography revealed an elongated anterior mitral valve leaflet and an almost completely absent posterior mitral valve leaflet with no MR. Our case is unusual presentation of a unileaflet mitral valve that should be investigated even in adulthood as these patients are likely to be at risk of developing or worsening MR later in life; hence, performing periodic echocardiograms is important for detecting the progression of MR early., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

It is now well-acknowledged that microbiota has a profound influence on both human health and illness. The gut microbiota has recently come to light as a crucial element that influences cancer through a variety of mechanisms. The connections between the microbiome and cancer therapy are further highlighted by a number of preclinical and clinical evidence, suggesting that these complicated interactions may vary by cancer type, treatment, or even by tumor stage. The paradoxical relationship between gut microbiota and cancer therapies is that in some cancers, the gut microbiota may be necessary to maintain therapeutic efficacy, whereas, in other cancers, gut microbiota depletion significantly increases efficacy. Actually, mounting research has shown that the gut microbiota plays a crucial role in regulating the host immune response and boosting the efficacy of anticancer medications like chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Therefore, gut microbiota modulation, which aims to restore gut microbial balance, is a viable technique for cancer prevention and therapy given the expanding understanding of how the gut microbiome regulates treatment response and contributes to carcinogenesis. This review will provide an outline of the gut microbiota's role in health and disease, along with a summary of the most recent research on how it may influence the effectiveness of various anticancer medicines and affect the growth of cancer. This study will next cover the newly developed microbiota-targeting strategies including prebiotics, probiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to enhance anticancer therapy effectiveness, given its significance., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

There is mounting evidence for the emerging role of gut microbiota (GM) and its metabolites in profoundly impacting allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and its subsequent complications, mainly infections and graft versus host-disease (GvHD). The present study was performed in order to investigate changes in GM composition and fecal metabolic signature between transplant patients ( n = 15) and healthy controls ( n = 18). The intestinal microbiota was characterized by NGS and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was employed to perform untargeted analysis of fecal metabolites. We found lower relative abundances of Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes and a higher abundance of Proteobacteria phylum after allo-HSCT. Particularly, the GvHD microbiota was characterized by a lower relative abundance of the short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria, namely, the Feacalibacterium , Akkermansia , and Veillonella genera and the Lachnospiraceae family, and an enrichment in multidrug-resistant bacteria belonging to Escherichia , Shigella , and Bacteroides . Moreover, network analysis showed that GvHD was linked to a higher number of positive interactions of Blautia and a significant mutual-exclusion rate of Citrobacter . The fecal metabolome was dominated by lipids in the transplant group when compared with the healthy individuals ( p < 0.05). Overall, 76 metabolites were significantly altered within transplant recipients, of which 24 were selected as potential biomarkers. Furthermore, the most notable altered metabolic pathways included the TCA cycle; butanoate, propanoate, and pyruvate metabolisms; steroid biosynthesis; and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. Specific biomarkers and altered metabolic pathways were correlated to GvHD onset. Our results showed significant shifts in gut microbiota structure and fecal metabolites characterizing allo-HSCT.

Metabolic alteration plays a functional role in kidney allograft complications. Metabolomics is a promising high-throughput approach in nephrology but is still limited by the lack of overlap in metabolite coverage. We performed an untargeted fecal metabolomic analysis of forty stable kidney allograft recipients and twenty non-transplant controls. First, we applied the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) analysis coupled with the Diod Array detector. The potential biomarkers were then collected and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS). In order to allow for complete coverage of the fecal polar and non-polar metabolites, the performance of five organic solvents with increasing polarity was investigated successively. UHPLC analysis revealed that the fecal metabolite profiles following the five extractions were significantly different between controls and kidney allografts. GC-MS analysis showed that the best predictors' metabolites belonged mainly to long-chain fatty acids, phenolic compounds, and amino acids. Collectively, our results showed the efficiency of our pioneer method to successfully discriminate stable kidney-transplant recipients from controls. These findings suggest that distinct metabolic profiles mainly affect fatty acid biosynthesis and amino acid metabolism. In such a context, the novel insights into metabolomic investigation may be a valuable tool that could provide useful new relevant biomarkers for preventing kidney transplant complications.

Monitoring graft recipients remains dependent on traditional biomarkers and old technologies lacking specificity, sensitivity, or accuracy. Recently, metabolomics is becoming a promising approach that may offer to kidney transplants a more effective and specific monitoring. Furthermore, emerging evidence suggested a fundamental role of gut microbiota as an important determinant of patients' metabolomes. In the current study, we enrolled forty stable renal allografts recipients compared to twenty healthy individuals. Samples were taken at different time points from patient to patient following transplantation surgery, which varied from 3 months to 22 years post-graft. All patients started the immunosuppression therapy immediately following kidney graft (Day 0). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed to perform untargeted analysis of fecal metabolites. Globally, the fecal metabolic signature was significantly different between kidney transplants and the control group. Fecal metabolome was dominated by lipids (sterols and fatty acids) in the stable transplant group compared to the controls ( p < 0.05). Overall, 18 metabolites were significantly altered within kidney transplant recipients. Furthermore, the most notable altered metabolic pathways in kidney transplants include ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosynthesis, tyrosine metabolism, tryptophan biosynthesis, and primary bile acid biosynthesis. Fecal metabolites could effectively distinguish stable transplant recipients from controls, supporting the potential utility of metabolomics in rapid and non-invasive diagnosis to produce relevant biomarkers and to help clinicians in monitoring kidney transplants. Further investigations are needed to clarify the physiological relevance of fecal metabolome and to assess the impact of microbiota modulation.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common form of cancer among women worldwide. Despite the huge advancements in its treatment, the exact etiology of breast cancer still remains unresolved. There is an increasing interest in the role of the gut microbiome in modulating the anti-cancer therapeutic response. It seems that alteration of the microbiome-derived metabolome potentially promotes carcinogenesis. Taken together, metabolomics has arisen as a fascinating new omics field to screen promising metabolic biomarkers. In this study, fecal metabolite profiling was performed using NMR spectroscopy, to identify potential biomarker candidates that can predict response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for breast cancer. Metabolic profiles of feces from patients ( n = 8) following chemotherapy treatment cycles were studied. Interestingly, amino acids were found to be upregulated, while lactate and fumaric acid were downregulated in patients under the second and third cycles compared with patients before treatment. Furthermore, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were significantly differentiated between the studied groups. These results strongly suggest that chemotherapy treatment plays a key role in modulating the fecal metabolomic profile of BC patients. In conclusion, we demonstrate the feasibility of identifying specific fecal metabolic profiles reflecting biochemical changes that occur during the chemotherapy treatment. These data give an interesting insight that may complement and improve clinical tools for BC monitoring.

Gaining long-term graft function and patient life quality remain critical challenges following kidney transplantation. Advances in immunology, gnotobiotics, and culture-independent molecular techniques have provided growing insights into the complex relationship of the microbiome and the host. However, little is known about the over time-shift of the gut microbiota in the context of kidney transplantation and its impact on both graft and health stability. Here we aimed to characterize the structure of gut microbiota within stable kidney graft recipients. We enrolled forty kidney transplant patients after at least three months of transplantation and compared them to eighteen healthy controls. The overall microbial community structure of the kidney transplanted group was clearly different from control subjects. We found lower relative abundances of Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Verrucomicrobia within the patient group and a higher abundance of Proteobacteria compared to the control group. Both richness and Shannon diversity indexes were significantly lower in the kidney graft recipients than in healthy controls. Post-graft period was positively correlated with the relative abundance of the Proteobacteria phylum, especially Escherichia.Shigella genus. Interestingly, only Parabacteroides was found to significantly differentiate patients that were not suffering from lifestyle diseases and those who suffer from post-graft complications. Furthermore, network analysis showed that the occurrence of lifestyle diseases was significantly linked with a higher number of negative interactions of Sutterella and Succinivibrio genera within patients. This study characterizes gut microbiome fluctuation in stable kidney transplant patients after a long post-allograft period. Analysis of fecal microbiota could be useful for nephrologists as a new clinical tool that can improve kidney allograft monitoring and outcomes.