Microbiome

Antibiotic-Induced Disruption of Intestinal Microbiota Leads to Increased Mortality From a Respiratory Viral Infection
Antibiotic-Induced Disruption of Intestinal Microbiota Leads to Increased Mortality From a Respiratory Viral Infection 150 150 Lauren Dembeck

Recent study indicates that antibiotic use disrupts gastrointestinal microbial communities and can indirectly influence host immune response, even in distant tissues. “The indiscriminate and overuse of antibiotics may have further reaching consequences than just evolution of antibacterial-resistant superbugs,” says physician-scientist Mitchell Grayson, MD, lead author of a new study published in Frontiers in Immunology. Dr. Grayson, who…

A Better Way to Administer Probiotics?
A Better Way to Administer Probiotics? 150 150 Abbie Miller

Researchers have designed a delivery system to treat premature infants with necrotizing enterocolitis that may have applications beyond the NICU. Most of the time, we think biofilms are bad news. And when pathogenic microbes form biofilms, they are. The biofilms created by pathogenic microbes create fortresses that make them resistant to attack by the immune…

The Maternal Microbiome: How Stress During Pregnancy Impacts Female Offspring in Adulthood
The Maternal Microbiome: How Stress During Pregnancy Impacts Female Offspring in Adulthood 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

A recent study suggests a critical window of pregnancy where stress is able to influence the microbiome and intrauterine environment, with lasting behavioral consequences. Previous research has demonstrated that stress during pregnancy changes the composition of the intestinal microbiota and is related to the emergence of behavioral disorders such as anxiety and depression. A new…