Small intestinal microbial dysbiosis underlies symptoms associated with functional gastrointestinal disorders

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) has been implicated in symptoms associated with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), though mechanisms remain poorly defined and treatment involves non-specific antibiotics. Here we show that SIBO based on duodenal aspirate culture reflects an overgrowth of anaerobes, does not correspond with patient symptoms, and may be a result of dietary preferences. Small intestinal microbial composition, on the other hand, is significantly altered in symptomatic patients and does not correspond with aspirate culture results. In a pilot interventional study we found that switching from a high fiber diet to a low fiber, high simple sugar diet triggered FGID-related symptoms and decreased small intestinal microbial diversity while increasing small intestinal permeability. Our findings demonstrate that characterizing small intestinal microbiomes in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms may allow a more targeted antibacterial or a diet-based approach to treatment

Targeting Huntington’s disease through histone deacetylases

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative condition with significant burdens on both patient and healthcare costs. Despite extensive research, treatment options for patients with this condition remain limited. Aberrant post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins is emerging as an important element in the pathogenesis of HD. These PTMs include acetylation, phosphorylation, methylation, sumoylation and ubiquitination. Several families of proteins are involved with the regulation of these PTMs. In this review, I discuss the current evidence linking aberrant PTMs and/or aberrant regulation of the cellular machinery regulating these PTMs to HD pathogenesis. Finally, I discuss the evidence suggesting that pharmacologically targeting one of these protein families the histone deacetylases may be of potential therapeutic benefit in the treatment of HD

Corneal Biomechanics

The corne a is the first and mos t powe rful refrac tive surface of the optical syst em of 6 the eye. 7 The produc tion of an accur ate image in the ret inal rece ptors requires the cornea 8 to be transpa rent and have a suitabl e refractive po wer [ 1 ? 3 ]. 9 The struct ural integr ity o f the corne a can be altered in the CR modify ing its 10 refrac tive prope rties. These procedure s have been develop ed emp irically without 11 detailed kno wledge of corneal behavior . 12 Measuri ng the change in corneal shape has been available in the past d ecade 13 through com puterized analysis of the reflec tion of photo keratos copic ring surface of 14 the cornea (corneal topog rapher). 15 Little is know n about the behavio r of the internal structure of the corne a. 16 Altho ugh the ult rastructu re was analyzed by elect ron micro scopy, the rol e of each 17 one of the layers has not been examined in detail. We shall see below attempt s to 18 define such roles, which still need further anal ysis. 19 The tools to measur e and under stand these proce sses ari se from mechani cal 20 engineer ing and have been used in othe r medica l specialties , such as o rthopedics, 21 which evaluates quantitative ly the require ments of the prosthes is. Many of these 22 methods are not suitable for soft tissue such as the corne a, but the general princi ples 23 can be appl ied.Fil: Guarnieri, Fabio Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones en Métodos Computacionales. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Centro de Investigaciones en Métodos Computacionales; Argentin