Isolation and identification of Bacillus strains with antimycobacterial activity

Tuberculosis is the principal cause of death worldwide due to an infectious disease. The resurgence of tuberculosis, followed by the increase in prevalence of infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), as well as the multi-drug resistance of mycobacteria to the majority of currently available antibiotics, have encouraged research for new antimycobacterial agents. Soil and water samples from different Moroccan biotopes, have led to the isolation of four bacterial strains (M, R, G and S), showing an inhibitory effect on mycobacterial growth. This effect was shown to be due to secreted substances in the growth medium. From subsequent analysis it was concluded that these strains produced different active substances. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA showed that these isolates belong to the genus Bacillus. The active substance from isolate M, showed the more important inhibitory effect on mycobacterial growth. It is precipitated with ammonium sulfate and lost all activity when treated with Proteinase K, revealing its protein nature

In vitro and intracellular antimycobacterial activity of a Bacillus pumilus strain

Despite the declaration of tuberculosis (TB) as a global emergency by the world health organization (WHO) about 20 years ago, the worldwide problem of this disease has worsened due to increased drug resistance of tuberculosis bacilli and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic. Consequently, fight against multidrug and extensively drug-resistant TB is a high priority for public health and research. The present work describes the isolation of a Bacillus pumilus strain secreting a metabolite of protein nature capable of inhibiting mycobacterial growth (Mycobacterium smegmatis, Mycobacterium aurum and Mycobacterium bovis BCG). This metabolite is not toxic, accumulates within the macrophage and inactivates the bacilli with a comparable efficiency to that of the pure commercial antimycobacterial substance Amikacin

Influence of iron on the gut microbiota in colorectal cancer

© 2020 The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092512Perturbations of the colonic microbiota can contribute to the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer, leading to an increase in pathogenic bacteria at the expense of protective bacteria. This can contribute to disease through increasing carcinogenic metabolite/toxin production, inducing inflammation, and activating oncogenic signaling. To limit disease progression, external factors that may influence the colonic microbiota need to be considered in patients with colorectal cancer. One major factor that can influence the colonic microbiota is iron. Iron is an essential micronutrient that is required by both prokaryotes and eukaryotes for cellular function. Most pathogenic bacteria have heightened iron acquisition mechanisms and therefore tend to outcompete protective bacteria for free iron. Colorectal cancer patients often present with anemia due to iron deficiency, and thus they require iron therapy. Depending upon the route of administration, iron therapy has the potential to contribute to a procarciongenic microbiota. Orally administered iron is the common treatment for anemia in these patients but can lead to an increased gut iron concentration. This suggests the need to reassess the route of iron therapy in these patients. Currently, this has only been assessed in murine studies, with human trials being necessary to unravel the potential microbial outcomes of iron therapy.Published onlin

The analysis of gut microbiota in patients with bile acid diarrhoea treated with colesevelam

© 2023 The Authors. Published by Frontiers Media. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1134105Introduction: Bile acid diarrhoea (BAD) is a common disorder that results from an increased loss of primary bile acids and can result in a change in microbiome. The aims of this study were to characterise the microbiome in different cohorts of patients with BAD and to determine if treatment with a bile acid sequestrant, colesevelam, can alter the microbiome and improve microbial diversity. Materials and methods: Patients with symptoms of diarrhoea underwent 75-selenium homocholic acid (75SeHCAT) testing and were categorised into four cohorts: idiopathic BAD, post-cholecystectomy BAD, post-operative Crohn’s disease BAD and 75SeHCAT negative control group. Patients with a positive 75SeHCAT (<15%) were given a trial of treatment with colesevelam. Stool samples were collected pre-treatment, 4-weeks, 8-weeks and 6–12 months post-treatment. Faecal 16S ribosomal RNA gene analysis was undertaken. Results: A total of 257 samples were analysed from 134 patients. α-diversity was significantly reduced in patients with BAD and more specifically, in the idiopathic BAD cohort and in patients with severe disease (SeHCAT <5%); p < 0.05. Colesevelam did not alter bacterial α/β-diversity but patients who clinically responded to treatment had a significantly greater abundance of Fusobacteria and Ruminococcus, both of which aid in the conversion of primary to secondary bile acids. Conclusion: This is the first study to examine treatment effects on the microbiome in BAD, which demonstrated a possible association with colesevelam on the microbiome through bile acid modulation in clinical responders. Larger studies are now needed to establish a causal relationship with colesevelam and the inter-crosstalk between bile acids and the microbiome.The research department of MB received project funding from Bowel and Cancer Research for part of this work. The research department of MB received project funding from an unrestricted grant from Tillotts Pharma for part of this work.Published versio

Oral and intravenous iron therapy differentially alter the on- and off-tumor microbiota in anemic colorectal cancer patients

© 2021 The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13061341Iron deficiency anemia is a common complication of colorectal cancer and may require iron therapy. Oral iron can increase the iron available to gut bacteria and may alter the colonic microbiota. We performed an intervention study to compare oral and intravenous iron therapy on the colonic tumor-associated (on-tumor) and paired non-tumor-associated adjacent (off-tumor) microbiota. Anemic patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma received either oral ferrous sulphate (n = 16) or intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (n = 24). On- and off-tumor biopsies were obtained post-surgery and microbial profiling was performed using 16S ribosomal RNA analysis. Off-tumor α- and β-diversity were significantly different between iron treatment groups. No differences in on-tumor diversity were observed. Off-tumor microbiota of oral iron-treated patients showed higher abundances of the orders Clostridiales, Cytophagales, and Anaeroplasmatales compared to intravenous iron-treated patients. The on-tumor microbiota was enriched with the orders Lactobacillales and Alteromonadales in the oral and intravenous iron groups, respectively. The on- and off-tumor microbiota associated with intravenous iron-treated patients infers increased abundances of enzymes involved in iron sequestration and anti-inflammatory/oncogenic metabolite production, compared to oral iron-treated patients. Collectively, this suggests that intravenous iron may be a more appropriate therapy to limit adverse microbial outcomes compared to oral iron.The Ferinject™ used in the original IVICA trial was donated to all study centers, except Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, by Vifor Pharma (Glattbrugg, Switzerland). The study represents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) program (grant number PB-PG-0110-21041)

The humanistic roots of Islamic administration and leadership for education : philosophical foundations for cross-cultural and transcultural teaching

For a number of decades, a humanistic approach has been a minor but persistent one in the Western field of administrative and leadership studies, and only recently has been broadening to include other humanist traditions (Dierksmeier et al., 2011) and has yet to be fully explored in educational administration and its pedagogy and curriculum although some foundational work has been done (e.g., Samier, 2005). The focus in this chapter is on the Islamic humanist tradition as it relates to the teaching of educational administration and leadership in a Muslim context, with implications for cross-cultural and transcultural use. The second purpose of the chapter is to show the correspondences that exist between the Islamic and Western humanist traditions in terms of human values, knowledge and educational ideal, which in this chapter are argued to be close to the Western Idealist tradition and the German Bildung conception of education as well as the strong interpretive and hermeneutic foundations that originated in the Islamic tradition and which influenced the foundations of many relevant European schools of thought, particularly in the Enlightenment.The initial section of the chapter is a comparative examination of the central principles of the Islamic humanist tradition from the classical through to contemporary times with the Western humanist tradition as they relate to conceptions of the good, ethics, the construction of meaning and a set of higher order values predicated upon human dignity, integrity, empathy, well-being, and the public good (Goodman, 2003) covering a number of important scholars like Al Farabi, al Isfanhani, and Edward Said (e.g., Kraemer, 1986). In both, professions are viewed as meaningful work that allow for large measures of decision making, and are grounded in human qualities and needs including autonomy, freedom and emancipation balanced with responsibilities, obligations and duties to society. These are compared with the corresponding principles of knowledge in Western humanism which includes a strong constructivist view of reality (Makdisi, 1990). Secondly, the chapter examines the principles of good or ideal leadership and administration that humanism aims at in its preparation of officials, including those in the educational sector in both the classical Islamic tradition (Hassi, 2012) and Western approaches to humanistic administration and leadership (Czarniawska-Joerges & Guillet de Monthoux, 1994; Gagliardi & Czarniawska, 2006; Leoussi, 2000). The third section focusses on close correspondences that exist between the Islamic (Afsaruddin, 2016; al-Attas, 1980; Yasin & Jani, 2013) and Western (Aloni, 2007; Veugelers, 2011) humanist education traditions in terms of educational ideal as well as the kind of teaching practices that distinguish these traditions (Daiber, 2013; Dossett, 2014) as they apply to educational administration and leadership (Greenfield & Ribbins, 1993). The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the Islamic humanist tradition can contribute to cross-cultural and transcultural graduate teaching in international educational administration (Khan & Amann, 2013)

The Effect of Colesevelam on the Microbiome in Postoperative Crohn's Disease

BACKGROUND: While surgery plays a pivotal role in the management of ileal Crohn's disease, the risk of endoscopic recurrence following an ileocaecal resection can be greater than 65% within 12 months of surgery. More than 90% of patients with Crohn's disease have a concomitant diagnosis of bile acid diarrhea following an ileal resection. This pilot study aimed to assess whether the use of bile acid sequestrants in patients with Crohn's disease who have undergone a primary terminal ileal resection with concomitant bile acid diarrhea can alter the microbiome and prevent disease recurrence. METHODS: Patients with Crohn's disease who underwent a primary terminal ileal resection and had symptoms of diarrhea within 1-3 months of surgery underwent 75SeHCAT testing for bile acid diarrhea. If positive (75SeHCAT ≤ 15%), patients were treated with colesevelam and stool samples were collected at 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 6-12 months posttreatment. If negative (75SeHCAT > 15%), treatment was not given and were reviewed in the clinic as per local guidelines. All patients underwent a 6-12 month postoperative colonoscopy where further stool samples and mucosal biopsies were taken. Disease activity was established using the endoscopic Rutgeert's score, with disease remission defined as Rutgeert's score <i2 and disease recurrence ≥i2. 16S ribosomal RNA gene analysis was undertaken for the collected fecal and mucosal samples to assess α/β-diversity and microbial composition. RESULTS: A total of 14 patients who completed the study, 10 of whom had a 75SeHCAT positive diagnosis of bile acid diarrhea and were started on treatment with colesevelam. Four patients did not require treatment as 3 were asymptomatic and 1 had a negative 75SeHCAT scan. Three of the fourteen patients had disease recurrence at their 6-12 month postoperative colonoscopy assessment, of which 1 patient was taking colesevelam and 2 patients were not taking colesevelam. A total of 44 fecal samples and 44 mucosal biopsies underwent 16S ribosomal RNA gene analysis to assess α/β-diversity and microbial composition. In the colesevelam treated patients there was no significant difference in α/β-diversity pre- and posttreatment. Pretreatment, the 3 most abundant bacterial classes in all patients were Bacteroidia, Clostridia, and Gammaproteobacteria. Following 6-12 months of treatment, out of the 9 patients on colesevelam, 5/9 (55.6%) had a reduction in Bacteroidia, 9/9 (100%) had an increase in Clostridia, and 7/9 (77.8%) had a reduction in Gammaproteobacteria. Of the 2 patients not given colesevelam, one showed a reduction in Bacteroidia, increase in Clostridia and a reduction in Gammaproteobacteria. CONCLUSIONS: This small pilot study demonstrated that patients who were given colesevelam, were more likely to be in disease remission at their 6-12 months colonoscopy review compared with those not treated. Furthermore, treatment with colesevelam may have a role in altering the microbiome to help maintain remission states in postoperative Crohn's disease. Larger mechanistic studies are now needed to confirm these findings and demonstrate statistical significance as well as investigate whether this benefit may be present even in those patients with 75SeHCAT negative disease

Differences in the On- and Off-Tumor Microbiota between Right- and Left-Sided Colorectal Cancer.

This study aims to determine differences in the on- and off-tumor microbiota between patients with right- and left-sided colorectal cancer. Microbiome profiling of tumor and tumor-adjacent biopsies from patients with right-sided ( = 17) and left-sided ( = 7) colorectal adenocarcinoma was performed using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Off-tumor alpha and beta diversity were significantly different between right- and left-sided colorectal cancer patients. However, no differences in on-tumor diversity were observed between tumor locations. Comparing the off-tumor microbiota showed the right colon to be enriched with species of the Lachnoclostridium, Selenomonas, and Ruminococcus genera. Whereas the left colon is enriched with Epsilonbacteraeota phylum, Campylobacteria class, and Pasteurellales and Campylobacterales orders, in contrast, the on-tumor microbiota showed relatively fewer differences in bacterial taxonomy between tumor sites, with left tumors being enriched with Methylophilaceae and Vadin BE97 families and Alloprevotella, Intestinibacter, Romboutsia, and Ruminococcus 2 genera. Patients with left-sided colorectal cancer had large taxonomic differences between their paired on- and off-tumor microbiota, while patients with right-sided colorectal cancer showed relatively fewer taxonomic differences. Collectively, this suggests that the right and left colon show distinctive bacterial populations; however, the presence of a colonic tumor leads to a more consistent microbiota between locations

Differences in the On- and Off-Tumor Microbiota between Right- and Left-Sided Colorectal Cancer.

This study aims to determine differences in the on- and off-tumor microbiota between patients with right- and left-sided colorectal cancer. Microbiome profiling of tumor and tumor-adjacent biopsies from patients with right-sided ( = 17) and left-sided ( = 7) colorectal adenocarcinoma was performed using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Off-tumor alpha and beta diversity were significantly different between right- and left-sided colorectal cancer patients. However, no differences in on-tumor diversity were observed between tumor locations. Comparing the off-tumor microbiota showed the right colon to be enriched with species of the Lachnoclostridium, Selenomonas, and Ruminococcus genera. Whereas the left colon is enriched with Epsilonbacteraeota phylum, Campylobacteria class, and Pasteurellales and Campylobacterales orders, in contrast, the on-tumor microbiota showed relatively fewer differences in bacterial taxonomy between tumor sites, with left tumors being enriched with Methylophilaceae and Vadin BE97 families and Alloprevotella, Intestinibacter, Romboutsia, and Ruminococcus 2 genera. Patients with left-sided colorectal cancer had large taxonomic differences between their paired on- and off-tumor microbiota, while patients with right-sided colorectal cancer showed relatively fewer taxonomic differences. Collectively, this suggests that the right and left colon show distinctive bacterial populations; however, the presence of a colonic tumor leads to a more consistent microbiota between locations