Cranberry-Lingonberry juice effect on gut and urinary tract microbiome

Abstract. Cranberry, Vaccinium oxycoccos, and lingonberry, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, have long been known to provide many health benefits as a source of nutrition. Similar to other berries, these traditional herbs contain flavonoids and vitamins, but also have a special benefit to prevent urinary tract infection (UTI). Previous studies have shown that A-type proanthocyanins (PAC) of cranberries may influence the adhesion of bacteria causing urinary tract infection. UTI pathogens originate from the gut and earlier studies have shown that there is a connection between urinary tract and gut microbiome UTI causing pathogens. However, the cranberry mechanism of action on the gut and urinary tract microbiome is not yet elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the Cranberry-Lingonberry juice (CLJ) effect on the gut and urinary tract bacterial communities. The hypothesis assumed that the metabolism of proanthocyanidins in the gut alters bacterial communities and reduces the amount of E. coli and possibly other proteobacteria in the urine. The research was done by examining urine and fecal samples from children with urinary tract infection for three (urine) to twelve (fecal samples) months. The samples were collected by Oulu University Hospital Child Health and Maternity Clinic from 77 patients who drank CLJ or flavonoid-free control juice in randomized trial. Total of 206 samples, including 40 urine and 166 fecal samples, were collected for study. DNA was extracted from samples using two different DNA extraction protocols of QIAGEN, USA and quantified using Nanodrop spectrophotometer. The bacterial 16S rRNA was amplified by using Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which also attached unique barcodes for each sample. Agarose gel electrophoresis was used to ensure amplification of PCR. All amplified PCR products were prepared for sequencing by Ion Torrent next generation sequencing. The QIIME 2 next-generation microbiome bioinformatics platform was used to analyze the sequence data and metadata information. Greengenes 16S rRNA, Silva gene databases and Human oral microbiome database (HOMD) were used as alignment reference databases. Metadata information about sample material and collection time was used for grouping. The alpha and beta diversity, as well as differential abundances between treatments, were analyzed using QIIME 2 platform and R-statistical program. Compliance data was used to limit the data to patients who used more than 80% probability of CLJ or control juice in the second round of statistical analysis. Altogether 183 samples were amplified, of which 150 was fecal and 40 urine, for downstream analysis. From the samples, 18 different phyla and 511 genera were identified, most of them even at species level. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in alpha- or beta diversity between CLJ and controls in any groups. Different abundances between treatment groups were found, but in the end none of them were statistically significant. By using HOMD-database, E. coli and other UTI-related species were identified from compliance 80% limited data. Statistical analyses showed a significant decrease of these bacteria in the urinary tract and gut microbiomes of CLJ group patients. In the future, chemical studies about microbial metabolism products could be done from the samples to get a more specific view about CLJ treatment effect on gut and microbial communities, and cranberry juice polyphenols effect on the body

Electronic properties of H on vicinal Pt surfaces: A first-principles study

In this work, we use the first-principle density-functional approach to study the electronic structure of a H atom adsorbed on the ideal Pt(111) and vicinal Pt(211) and Pt(331) surfaces. Full three-dimensional potential-energy surfaces (3D PES's) as well as local electronic density of states on various adsorption sites are obtained. The results show that the steps modify the PES considerably. The effect is nonlocal and extends into the region of the (111) terraces. We also find that different type of steps have different kind of influence on the PES when compared to the one of the ideal Pt(111) surface. The full 3D PES's calculated in this work provide a starting point for the theoretical study of vibrational and diffusive dynamics of H adatoms adsorbed on these vicinal surfaces.Comment: 8 pages with 5 figures and 3 tables. In version 2, there have been made some minor changes and a bigger one in Section III.A.1 where the results of the test calculations dealt with the accuracy of the present results have been adde

Structure and magnetic properties of adatoms on carbon nanotubes

We use ab initio methods to calculate the physical and electronic properties of carbon adatoms on different characteristic carbon nanotubes. We found that for every tube the energetically favored adsorption geometry is a “bridgelike” structure between two surface carbons, perpendicular to the long axis of the tube. For adsorption perpendicular or parallel to the axis, the calculations show that the adatom is spin polarized, although the magnitude of the magnetic moment depends mainly on the electronic structure of the nanotube itself.Peer reviewe

Chromatin modifier developmental pluripotency associated factor 4 (DPPA4) is a candidate gene for alcohol-induced developmental disorders

Peer reviewe

Genotype-by-environment interaction for uniformity of growth in rainbow trout

201

Up to seven-fold inter-hospital differences in obstetric anal sphincter injury rates- A birth register-based study in Finland

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The occurrence of obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) - which may have serious, long-term effects on affected women, including faecal incontinence, despite primary repair - varies widely between countries and have been chosen one of the indicators for patient safety in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and in Nordic countries.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The aim of the study was to assess risks of OASIS among five university teaching hospitals and 14 non-university central hospitals with more than 1,000 deliveries annually during 1997-2007 in Finland. Women with singleton vaginal deliveries divided into two populations consisting of all 168,637 women from five university hospitals and all 255,660 women from non-university hospitals, respectively, derived from population-based register. Primiparous and multiparous women with OASIS (n = 2,448) were compared in terms of possible risk factors to primiparous and multiparous women without OASIS, respectively, using stepwise logistic regression analysis. The occurrences of OASIS varied from 0.7% to 2.1% in primiparous and from 0.1% to 0.3% in multiparous women among the university hospitals. Three-fold inter-hospital differences in OASIS rates did not significantly change after adjustment for patient mix or the use of interventions. In non-university hospitals OASIS rates varied from 0.2% to 1.4% in primiparous and from 0.02% to 0.4% in multiparous women, and the results remained virtually unchanged after adjustment for known risks.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Up to 3.2-fold inter-hospital differences in OASIS risk demonstrates significant differences in the quality of Finnish obstetric care.</p

Genetics of Microenvironmental Sensitivity of Body Weight in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Selected for Improved Growth

Microenvironmental sensitivity of a genotype refers to the ability to buffer against non-specific environmental factors, and it can be quantified by the amount of residual variation in a trait expressed by the genotype’s offspring within a (macro)environment. Due to the high degree of polymorphism in behavioral, growth and life-history traits, both farmed and wild salmonids are highly susceptible to microenvironmental variation, yet the heritable basis of this characteristic remains unknown. We estimated the genetic (co)variance of body weight and its residual variation in 2-year-old rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) using a multigenerational data of 45,900 individuals from the Finnish national breeding programme. We also tested whether or not microenvironmental sensitivity has been changed as a correlated genetic response when genetic improvement for growth has been practiced over five generations. The animal model analysis revealed the presence of genetic heterogeneity both in body weight and its residual variation. Heritability of residual variation was remarkably lower (0.02) than that for body weight (0.35). However, genetic coefficient of variation was notable in both body weight (14%) and its residual variation (37%), suggesting a substantial potential for selection responses in both traits. Furthermore, a significant negative genetic correlation (−0.16) was found between body weight and its residual variation, i.e., rapidly growing genotypes are also more tolerant to perturbations in microenvironment. The genetic trends showed that fish growth was successfully increased by selective breeding (an average of 6% per generation), whereas no genetic change occurred in residual variation during the same period. The results imply that genetic improvement for body weight does not cause a concomitant increase in microenvironmental sensitivity. For commercial production, however, there may be high potential to simultaneously improve weight gain and increase its uniformity if both criteria are included in a selection index