Survival and persistence of Bacillus clausii in the human gastrointestinal tract following oral administration as spore-based probiotic formulation

AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the fate of Bacillus clausii spores orally administered as lyophilized or liquid formulation to healthy volunteers. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study was a randomized, open-label, cross-over trial in which two commercial probiotic formulations containing spores of four antibiotic-resistant B. clausii strains (OC, NR, SIN, T) were given as a single dose administration. Faecal B. clausii units of each strain were counted on selective media and extrapolated for the total weight of evacuated faeces. RAPD-PCR typing was used to confirm B. clausii identification. Bacillus clausii was found alive in faeces for up to 12 days. In some volunteers, the recovered amount of OC, NR or SIN was higher than the number of administered spores. Bioequivalence among the two formulations was demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: Bacillus clausii spores survive transit through the human gastrointestinal tract. They can undergo germination, outgrowth and multiplication as vegetative forms. Bacillus clausii strains can have different ability to survive in the intestinal environment. Bacillus clausii spores administered as liquid suspension or lyophilized form behave similarly in vivo. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This work contributes towards a better understanding of the behaviour of B. clausii spores as probiotics

FlhF Is Required for Swarming Motility and Full Pathogenicity of Bacillus cereus

Besides sporulation, Bacillus cereus can undergo a differentiation process in which short swimmer cells become elongated and hyperflagellated swarmer cells that favor migration of the bacterial community on a surface. The functionally enigmatic flagellar protein FlhF, which is the third paralog of the signal recognition particle (SRP) GTPases Ffh and FtsY, is required for swarming in many bacteria. Previous data showed that FlhF is involved in the control of the number and positioning of flagella in B. cereus. In this study, in silico analysis of B. cereus FlhF revealed that this protein presents conserved domains that are typical of SRPs in many organisms and a peculiar N-terminal basic domain. By proteomic analysis, a significant effect of FlhF depletion on the amount of secreted proteins was found with some proteins increased (e.g., B component of the non-hemolytic enterotoxin, cereolysin O, enolase) and others reduced (e.g., flagellin, L2 component of hemolysin BL, bacillolysin, sphingomyelinase, PC-PLC, PI-PLC, cytotoxin K) in the extracellular proteome of a ΔflhF mutant. Deprivation of FlhF also resulted in significant attenuation in the pathogenicity of this strain in an experimental model of infection in Galleria mellonella larvae. Our work highlights the multifunctional role of FlhF in B. cereus, being this protein involved in bacterial flagellation, swarming, protein secretion, and pathogenicity

Clinical Features, Cardiovascular Risk Profile, and Therapeutic Trajectories of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Candidate for Oral Semaglutide Therapy in the Italian Specialist Care

Introduction: This study aimed to address therapeutic inertia in the management of type 2 diabetes (T2D) by investigating the potential of early treatment with oral semaglutide. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2021 and April 2022 among specialists treating individuals with T2D. A scientific committee designed a data collection form covering demographics, cardiovascular risk, glucose control metrics, ongoing therapies, and physician judgments on treatment appropriateness. Participants completed anonymous patient questionnaires reflecting routine clinical encounters. The preferred therapeutic regimen for each patient was also identified. Results: The analysis was conducted on 4449 patients initiating oral semaglutide. The population had a relatively short disease duration (42%  60% of patients, and more often than sitagliptin or empagliflozin. Conclusion: The study supports the potential of early implementation of oral semaglutide as a strategy to overcome therapeutic inertia and enhance T2D management

Comparison of molecular typing methods for Candida albicans strain delineation.

This paper compares the reproducibility and discriminatory power of pulse-field electrophoresis, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA and DNA fingerprinting in C. albicans strain delineation. Seven different karyotypic patterns were identified among 103 C. albicans strains isolated from the oral cavities of healthy carriers and from oral lesions of HIV-seropositive and seronegative patients by pulse-field electrophoresis. The randomly amplified polymorphic DNA technique turned out to be more discriminative than karyotyping, allowing further diversification within strains sharing the same karyotype. However, such a technique did not appear useful when employed as the only DNA typing method, since several strains, characterized by different karyotypes, showed indistinguishable electrophoretic amplification profiles. DNA fingerprinting with the 27A probe (S. Scherer, D. A. Stevens, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85 (1988) 1452-1456) yielded the most resolutive analysis, since about as many polymorphic patterns were obtained as the individual strains typed. Therefore, while C. albicans DNA typing by pulse-field electrophoresis followed by random amplification of polymorphic DNA appears to be adequate for discriminating C. albicans strains into distinct types and subtypes, DNA fingerprinting may be suitable for rapid identification of individual strains in fine epidemiological investigations