Reservoir of Bacterial Exotoxin Genes in the Environment

This is the first report of an environmental reservoir of a bacterial exotoxin gene harbored in an atypical host in the environment. Screening bacterial isolates from the environment via sea-specific PCR identified an isolate with a DNA sequence >95% identical to the Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A gene (_sea_). 16S DNA sequence comparisons identified the environmental isolate as a Pseusodomonad. Laboratory studies confirmed that this Pseudomonad is psychrophilic. The results indicate that the _sea_ gene is present in an alternative bacterial host, providing the first evidence for an environmental reservoir of exotoxin genes in bacteria. Transfer of these genes between phage and alternative bacterial hosts may promote the evolution of novel human diseases

Reservoir of Bacterial Exotoxin Genes in the Environment

Many bacteria produce secreted virulence factors called exotoxins. Exotoxins are often encoded by mobile genetic elements, including bacteriophage (phage). Phage can transfer genetic information to the bacteria they infect. When a phage transfers virulence genes to an avirulent bacterium, the bacterium can acquire the ability to cause disease. It is important to understand the role played by the phage that carry these genes in the evolution of pathogens. This is the first report of an environmental reservoir of a bacterial exotoxin gene in an atypical host. Screening bacterial isolates from the environment via PCR identified an isolate with a DNA sequence >95% identical to the Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A gene (sea). 16S DNA sequence comparisons and growth studies identified the environmental isolate as a psychrophilic Pseudomonas spp. The results indicate that the sea gene is present in an alternative bacterial host, providing the first evidence for an environmental pool of exotoxin genes in bacteria

Bacteriophage-encoded shiga toxin gene in atypical bacterial host

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Contamination from fecal bacteria in recreational waters is a major health concern since bacteria capable of causing human disease can be found in animal feces. The Dog Beach area of Ocean Beach in San Diego, California is a beach prone to closures due to high levels of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). A potential source of these FIB could be the canine feces left behind by owners who do not clean up after their pets. We tested this hypothesis by screening the DNA isolated from canine feces for the bacteriophage-encoded <it>stx </it>gene normally found in the virulent strains of the fecal bacterium <it>Escherichia coli</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty canine fecal samples were collected, processed for total and bacterial fraction DNA, and screened by PCR for the <it>stx </it>gene. The <it>stx </it>gene was detected in the total and bacterial fraction DNA of one fecal sample. Bacterial isolates were then cultivated from the <it>stx</it>-positive fecal sample. Eighty nine of these canine fecal bacterial isolates were screened by PCR for the <it>stx </it>gene. The <it>stx </it>gene was detected in five of these isolates. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene PCR products from the canine fecal bacterial isolates indicated that they were <it>Enterococcus </it>and not <it>E. coli</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The bacteriophage-encoded <it>stx </it>gene was found in multiple species of bacteria cultivated from canine fecal samples gathered at the shoreline of the Dog Beach area of Ocean Beach in San Diego, California. The canine fecal bacteria carrying the <it>stx </it>gene were not the typical <it>E. coli </it>host and were instead identified through phylogenetic analyses as <it>Enterococcus</it>. This suggests a large degree of horizontal gene transfer of exotoxin genes in recreational waters.</p

Chronic Pancreatitis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: An Uncommon Association

The association between systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and chronic pancreatitis (CP) is extremely rare. Up to now, only six cases have been reported. We report the case of a young woman who presented her first episode of abdominal pain and hyperamylasemia at the onset of SLE and developed chronic calcifying pancreatitis after a two year period

Isotemporal substitution of inactive time with physical activity and time in bed: Cross-sectional associations with cardiometabolic health in the PREDIMED-Plus study

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: This study explored the association between inactive time and measures of adiposity, clinical parameters, obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome components. It further examined the impact of reallocating inactive time to time in bed, light physical activity (LPA) or moderate-To-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on cardio-metabolic risk factors, including measures of adiposity and body composition, biochemical parameters and blood pressure in older adults. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 2189 Caucasian men and women (age 55-75 years, BMI 27-40 Kg/m2) from the PREDIMED-Plus study (http://www.predimedplus.com/). All participants had ≥3 components of the metabolic syndrome. Inactive time, physical activity and time in bed were objectively determined using triaxial accelerometers GENEActiv during 7 days (ActivInsights Ltd., Kimbolton, United Kingdom). Multiple adjusted linear and logistic regression models were used. Isotemporal substitution regression modelling was performed to assess the relationship of replacing the amount of time spent in one activity for another, on each outcome, including measures of adiposity and body composition, biochemical parameters and blood pressure in older adults. Results: Inactive time was associated with indicators of obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Reallocating 30 min per day of inactive time to 30 min per day of time in bed was associated with lower BMI, waist circumference and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (all p-values < 0.05). Reallocating 30 min per day of inactive time with 30 min per day of LPA or MVPA was associated with lower BMI, waist circumference, total fat, visceral adipose tissue, HbA1c, glucose, triglycerides, and higher body muscle mass and HDL cholesterol (all p-values < 0.05). Conclusions: Inactive time was associated with a poor cardio-metabolic profile. Isotemporal substitution of inactive time with MVPA and LPA or time in bed could have beneficial impact on cardio-metabolic health. Trial registration: The trial was registered at the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial (ISRCTN: http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN89898870) with number 89898870 and registration date of 24 July 2014, retrospectively registered

Uncovering Natural Supersymmetry via the interplay between the LHC and direct Dark Matter detection

We have explored Natural Supersymmetry (NSUSY) scenarios with low values of the μ parameter which are characterised by higgsino-like Dark Matter (DM) and compressed spectra for the lightest MSSM particles, χ10, χ20 and χ1±. This scenario could be probed via monojet signatures, but as the signal-to-background ratio (S/B) is low we demonstrate that the 8 TeV LHC cannot obtain limits on the DM mass beyond those of LEP2. On the other hand, we have found, for the 13 TeV run of the LHC, that by optimising kinematical cuts we can bring the S/B ratio up to the 5(3)% level which would allow the exclusion of the DM mass up to 200(250) GeV respectively, significantly extending LEP2 limits. Moreover, we have found that LUX/XENON1T and LHC do play very complementary roles in exploring the parameter space of NSUSY, as the LHC has the capability to access regions where DM is quasi-degenerate with other higgsinos, which are challenging for direct detection experiments

Isotemporal substitution of inactive time with physical activity and time in bed: cross-sectional associations with cardiometabolic health in the PREDIMEDPlus study

Background: This study explored the association between inactive time and measures of adiposity, clinical parameters, obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome components. It further examined the impact of reallocating inactive time to time in bed, light physical activity (LPA) or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on cardio-metabolic risk factors, including measures of adiposity and body composition, biochemical parameters and blood pressure in older adults. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 2189 Caucasian men and women (age 55-75 years, BMI 27-40 Kg/m2) from the PREDIMED-Plus study (http://www.predimedplus.com/). All participants had ≥3 components of the metabolic syndrome. Inactive time, physical activity and time in bed were objectively determined using triaxial accelerometers GENEActiv during 7 days (ActivInsights Ltd., Kimbolton, United Kingdom). Multiple adjusted linear and logistic regression models were used. Isotemporal substitution regression modelling was performed to assess the relationship of replacing the amount of time spent in one activity for another, on each outcome, including measures of adiposity and body composition, biochemical parameters and blood pressure in older adults. Results: Inactive time was associated with indicators of obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Reallocating 30 min per day of inactive time to 30 min per day of time in bed was associated with lower BMI, waist circumference and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (all p-values < 0.05). Reallocating 30 min per day of inactive time with 30 min per day of LPA or MVPA was associated with lower BMI, waist circumference, total fat, visceral adipose tissue, HbA1c, glucose, triglycerides, and higher body muscle mass and HDL cholesterol (all p-values < 0.05). Conclusions: Inactive time was associated with a poor cardio-metabolic profile. Isotemporal substitution of inactive time with MVPA and LPA or time in bed could have beneficial impact on cardio-metabolic health

The LifeCycle Project-EU Child Cohort Network : a federated analysis infrastructure and harmonized data of more than 250,000 children and parents

Early life is an important window of opportunity to improve health across the full lifecycle. An accumulating body of evidence suggests that exposure to adverse stressors during early life leads to developmental adaptations, which subsequently affect disease risk in later life. Also, geographical, socio-economic, and ethnic differences are related to health inequalities from early life onwards. To address these important public health challenges, many European pregnancy and childhood cohorts have been established over the last 30 years. The enormous wealth of data of these cohorts has led to important new biological insights and important impact for health from early life onwards. The impact of these cohorts and their data could be further increased by combining data from different cohorts. Combining data will lead to the possibility of identifying smaller effect estimates, and the opportunity to better identify risk groups and risk factors leading to disease across the lifecycle across countries. Also, it enables research on better causal understanding and modelling of life course health trajectories. The EU Child Cohort Network, established by the Horizon2020-funded LifeCycle Project, brings together nineteen pregnancy and childhood cohorts, together including more than 250,000 children and their parents. A large set of variables has been harmonised and standardized across these cohorts. The harmonized data are kept within each institution and can be accessed by external researchers through a shared federated data analysis platform using the R-based platform DataSHIELD, which takes relevant national and international data regulations into account. The EU Child Cohort Network has an open character. All protocols for data harmonization and setting up the data analysis platform are available online. The EU Child Cohort Network creates great opportunities for researchers to use data from different cohorts, during and beyond the LifeCycle Project duration. It also provides a novel model for collaborative research in large research infrastructures with individual-level data. The LifeCycle Project will translate results from research using the EU Child Cohort Network into recommendations for targeted prevention strategies to improve health trajectories for current and future generations by optimizing their earliest phases of life.Peer reviewe

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe