16 research outputs found
Fungal dysbiosis predicts the diagnosis of pediatric Crohn's disease
AIM: To investigate the accuracy of fungal dysbiosis in mucosa and stool for predicting the diagnosis of Crohn’s disease (CD). METHODS: Children were prospectively enrolled in two medical centers: one university hospital and one private gastroenterology clinic in the city of Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The children with confirmed diagnosis of CD by standard guidelines were considered cases, and the others were considered non-inflammatory bowel disease controls. Mucosal and stool samples were sequenced utilizing Illumina MiSeq chemistry following the manufacturer’s protocols, and abundance and diversity of fungal taxa in mucosa and stool were analyzed. Sparse logistic regression was used to predict the diagnosis of CD. The accuracy of the classifier was tested by computing the receiver operating characteristic curves with 5-fold stratified cross-validation under 100 permutations of the training data partition and the mean area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. RESULTS: All the children were Saudi nationals. There were 15 children with CD and 20 controls. The mean age was 13.9 (range: 6.7-17.8) years for CD children and 13.9 (3.25-18.6) years for controls, and 10/15 (67%) of the CD and 13/20 (65%) of the control subjects were boys. CD locations at diagnosis were ileal (L1) in 4 and colonic (L3) in 11 children, while CD behavior was non-stricturing and non-penetrating (B1) in 12 and stricturing (B2) in 3 children. The mean AUC for the fungal dysbiosis classifier was significantly higher in stools (AUC = 0.85 ± 0.057) than in mucosa (AUC = 0.71 ± 0.067) (P < 0.001). Most fungal species were significantly more depleted in stools than mucosal samples, except for Saccharomyces cerevisiae and S. bayanus, which were significantly more abundant. Diversity was significantly more reduced in stools than in mucosa. CONCLUSION: We found high AUC of fungal dysbiosis in fecal samples of children with CD, suggesting high accuracy in predicting diagnosis of CD. Key Words: Fungiome, Mycobiome, Crohn’s disease, Inflammation, Saudi children Core tip: We found high accuracy of fungal dysbiosis in predicting diagnosis of Crohn’s disease (CD), a finding similar to bacterial dysbiosis. However, the higher area under the curve for the fungal dysbiosis classifier in stool (0.85 ± 0.057) than in mucosa (0.71 ± 0.067) (P < 0.001), contrasts with bacterial studies, suggesting higher accuracy of stool samples. Although the clinical application of this finding is limited at present by the high cost of fungal analysis, such information is important from a scientific viewpoint, to increase the understanding of the role of fungal flora in CD and to stimulate further studies.The authors extend their appreciations to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for funding this work through Research Group No [RGP-1436-007]. This work was also supported by a grant from the Simons Foundation [No. 409704] to Kirill Korolev) and by the startup fund from Boston University to Kirill Korolev. Simulations were carried out on Shared Computing Cluster at Boston University. Rajita Menon was partially supported by a Hariri Graduate Fellowship from Boston University. Harland Winter, MD received support from Martin Schlaff and the Diane and Dorothy Brooks Foundation. (RGP-1436-007 - King Saud University in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 409704 - Simons Foundation; Boston University; Hariri Graduate Fellowship from Boston University; Diane and Dorothy Brooks Foundation)Published versio
In-depth quantum chemical investigation of electro-optical and charge-transport properties of <i>trans</i>-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)prop-2-enenitrile
Microbiota profile in new-onset pediatric Crohn’s disease: data from a non-Western population
Abstract Background The role of microbiota in Crohn’s disease (CD) is increasingly recognized. However, most of the reports are from Western populations. Considering the possible variation from other populations, the aim of this study was to describe the microbiota profile in children with CD in Saudi Arabia, a non-Western developing country population. Results Significantly more abundant genera in children with CD included Fusobacterium, Peptostreptococcus, Psychrobacter, and Acinetobacter; whereas the most significantly-depleted genera included Roseburia, Clostridium, Ruminococcus, Ruminoclostridium, Intestinibacter, Mitsuokella, Megasphaera, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Turicibacter, and Paludibacter. Alpha diversity was significantly reduced in stool (p = 0.03) but not in mucosa (p = 0.31). Beta diversity showed significant difference in community composition between control and CD samples (p = 0.03). Conclusion In this developing country, we found a pattern of microbiota in children with CD similar to Western literature, suggesting a role of recent dietary lifestyle changes in this population on microbiota structure
In-Doped ZnO Hexagonal Stepped Nanorods and Nanodisks as Potential Scaffold for Highly-Sensitive Phenyl Hydrazine Chemical Sensors
Herein, we report the growth of In-doped ZnO (IZO) nanomaterials, i.e., stepped hexagonal nanorods and nanodisks by the thermal evaporation process using metallic zinc and indium powders in the presence of oxygen. The as-grown IZO nanomaterials were investigated by several techniques in order to examine their morphological, structural, compositional and optical properties. The detailed investigations confirmed that the grown nanomaterials, i.e., nanorods and nanodisks possess well-crystallinity with wurtzite hexagonal phase and grown in high density. The room-temperature PL spectra exhibited a suppressed UV emissions with strong green emissions for both In-doped ZnO nanomaterials, i.e., nanorods and nanodisks. From an application point of view, the grown IZO nanomaterials were used as a potential scaffold to fabricate sensitive phenyl hydrazine chemical sensors based on the I–V technique. The observed sensitivities of the fabricated sensors based on IZO nanorods and nanodisks were 70.43 μA·mM−1·cm−2 and 130.18 μA·mM−1·cm−2, respectively. For both the fabricated sensors, the experimental detection limit was 0.5 μM, while the linear range was 0.5 μM–5.0 mM. The observed results revealed that the simply grown IZO nanomaterials could efficiently be used to fabricate highly sensitive chemical sensors
Direct Analysis of Rare Circulating Tumor Cells in Whole Blood Based on Their Controlled Capture and Release on Electrode Surface
Sleep patterns and predictors of poor sleep quality among Saudi commission residents in the Aseer region, Saudi Arabia before and during covid-19 pandemic
Background: Sleep is an essential part of human physiology. Being a basic need for human well-being, adequate sleep is associated with good health and life quality for all individuals. Disorders of sleep may result in significant derangement in human functionality. Sleepiness among physicians affects not only their personal lives but also negatively impacts the lives of their patients. Method: This is an analytic cross-sectional study design conducted among 268 male and female Saudi commission residents working in public healthcare facilities in the Aseer region, Saudi Arabia. The study aimed to assess sleep patterns and determine predictors of poor sleep quality among Saudi commission residents of the Aseer region, Saudi Arabia. Result: The study reported that before COVID 19 pandemic, 85.1% of Saudi commission residents had poor sleep quality; however, during the pandemic, the percentage increased to 92.5% who showed poor sleep quality. Also, we found there was a significant association between different self-reported morbidities among Saudi commission residents and sleep disturbance (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The study revealed that the percentage of the Saudi commission residents had poor sleep quality during pandemic higher than before with significant difference, which indicates the relation between COVID 19 pandemic and sleeps quality among Saudi commission residents