Abstract
In Samantha Thimmaya v Lancashire NHS Trust v Mr Firas Jamal (Thimmaya), Mr Jamil, an expert witness acting for the Claimant in a clinical negligence action, was ordered to pay part of the ...Defendant’s costs, amounting to over £88,000. The court determined that his conduct as an expert had been ‘improper, unreasonable, or negligent’, thus enabling the court to make a third-party costs order against him. Although the case must have raised alarm amongst medical experts, the facts of the case show that it concerned a very unusual set of circumstances. Additionally, the more recent case of Walker and Walker v Tui UK Ltd v Dr Timothy Leigh (Walker), also discussed below, suggests that the threshold to be applied in determining whether costs orders should be made against experts will be higher than that applied in Thimmaya. Both cases serve as a reminder of the duties owed by experts to the court.
The Gut Microbiota of Marine Fish Egerton, Sian; Culloty, Sarah; Whooley, Jason ...
Frontiers in microbiology,
05/2018, Letnik:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The body of work relating to the gut microbiota of fish is dwarfed by that on humans and mammals. However, it is a field that has had historical interest and has grown significantly along with the ...expansion of the aquaculture industry and developments in microbiome research. Research is now moving quickly in this field. Much recent focus has been on nutritional manipulation and modification of the gut microbiota to meet the needs of fish farming, while trying to maintain host health and welfare. However, the diversity amongst fish means that baseline data from wild fish and a clear understanding of the role that specific gut microbiota play is still lacking. We review here the factors shaping marine fish gut microbiota and highlight gaps in the research.
Psychobiotics: A Novel Class of Psychotropic Dinan, Timothy G; Stanton, Catherine; Cryan, John F
Biological psychiatry (1969),
11/2013, Letnik:
74, Številka:
10
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Here, we define a psychobiotic as a live organism that, when ingested in adequate amounts, produces a health benefit in patients suffering from psychiatric illness. As a class of probiotic, these ...bacteria are capable of producing and delivering neuroactive substances such as gamma-aminobutyric acid and serotonin, which act on the brain-gut axis. Preclinical evaluation in rodents suggests that certain psychobiotics possess antidepressant or anxiolytic activity. Effects may be mediated via the vagus nerve, spinal cord, or neuroendocrine systems. So far, psychobiotics have been most extensively studied in a liaison psychiatric setting in patients with irritable bowel syndrome, where positive benefits have been reported for a number of organisms including Bifidobacterium infantis. Evidence is emerging of benefits in alleviating symptoms of depression and in chronic fatigue syndrome. Such benefits may be related to the anti-inflammatory actions of certain psychobiotics and a capacity to reduce hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Results from large scale placebo-controlled studies are awaited.
The intestinal microbiota has increasingly been shown to have a vital role in various aspects of human health. Indeed, several studies have linked alterations in the gut microbiota with the ...development of different diseases. Among the vast gut bacterial community, Bifidobacterium is a genus which dominates the intestine of healthy breast-fed infants whereas in adulthood the levels are lower but relatively stable. The presence of different species of bifidobacteria changes with age, from childhood to old age. Bifidobacterium longum, B. breve, and B. bifidum are generally dominant in infants, whereas B. catenulatum, B. adolescentis and, as well as B. longum are more prevalent in adults. Increasingly, evidence is accumulating which shows beneficial effects of supplementation with bifidobacteria for the improvement of human health conditions ranging from protection against infection to different extra- and intra-intestinal positive effects. Moreover, bifidobacteria have been associated with the production of a number of potentially health promoting metabolites including short chain fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid and bacteriocins. The aim of this mini-review is to describe the bifidobacteria compositional changes associated with different stages in life, highlighting their beneficial role, as well as their presence or absence in many disease states.
Abstract Background The realization that the microbiota-gut-brain axis plays a critical role in health and disease, including neuropsychiatric disorders, is rapidly advancing. Nurturing a beneficial ...gut microbiome with prebiotics, such as fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), is an appealing but underinvestigated microbiota manipulation. Here we tested whether chronic prebiotic treatment modifies behavior across domains relevant to anxiety, depression, cognition, stress response, and social behavior. Methods C57BL/6J male mice were administered FOS, GOS, or a combination of FOS+GOS for 3 weeks prior to testing. Plasma corticosterone, microbiota composition, and cecal short-chain fatty acids were measured. In addition, FOS+GOS- or water-treated mice were also exposed to chronic psychosocial stress, and behavior, immune, and microbiota parameters were assessed. Results Chronic prebiotic FOS+GOS treatment exhibited both antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. Moreover, the administration of GOS and the FOS+GOS combination reduced stress-induced corticosterone release. Prebiotics modified specific gene expression in the hippocampus and hypothalamus. Regarding short-chain fatty acid concentrations, prebiotic administration increased cecal acetate and propionate and reduced isobutyrate concentrations, changes that correlated significantly with the positive effects seen on behavior. Moreover, FOS+GOS reduced chronic stress-induced elevations in corticosterone and proinflammatory cytokine levels and depression-like and anxiety-like behavior in addition to normalizing the effects of stress on the microbiota. Conclusions Taken together, these data strongly suggest a beneficial role of prebiotic treatment for stress-related behaviors. These findings strengthen the evidence base supporting therapeutic targeting of the gut microbiota for brain-gut axis disorders, opening new avenues in the field of nutritional neuropsychopharmacology.
Dietary supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been reported to alleviate the effect of colitis in mice, but the mechanisms involved need further exploration. The study aimed to ...investigate how orally administered CLA alleviates dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. CLA was administered in five different doses: 40, 20, 10, 5, and 2.5 mg/day. Doses of CLA at 10 mg/day and higher alleviated colitis symptoms and reduced inflammation induced by DSS, in which 40, 20, and 10 mg/day CLA significantly increased the concentration of mucin2 and goblet cells, but neither 5 mg/day CLA nor 2.5 mg/day CLA had any effects. Meanwhile, 40 and 20 mg/day CLA treatments significantly upregulated the concentration of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-3) and ameliorated epithelial apoptosis caused by DSS. Moreover, oxidative-stress-related enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase) and inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-10, and IL-6 were modulated by 40 and 20 mg/day CLA. Furthermore, 40 mg/day CLA rebalanced the gut microbiota damaged by DSS, including reducing Bacteroides and increasing Bifidobacterium and Odoribacter. In conclusion, CLA supplementation alleviated DSS-induced colitis in a dose-dependent manner by modulating inflammatory cytokines and oxidation stress, maintaining the mucosal barrier, and reverting microbiota changes.
The microbial population residing within the human gut represents one of the most densely populated microbial niche in the human body with growing evidence showing it playing a key role in the ...regulation of behavior and brain function. The bidirectional communication between the gut microbiota and the brain, the microbiota-gut-brain axis, occurs through various pathways including the vagus nerve, the immune system, neuroendocrine pathways, and bacteria-derived metabolites. This axis has been shown to influence neurotransmission and the behavior that are often associated with neuropsychiatric conditions. Therefore, research targeting the modulation of this gut microbiota as a novel therapy for the treatment of various neuropsychiatric conditions is gaining interest. Numerous factors have been highlighted to influence gut microbiota composition, including genetics, health status, mode of birth, and environment. However, it is diet composition and nutritional status that has repeatedly been shown to be one of the most critical modifiable factors regulating the gut microbiota at different time points across the lifespan and under various health conditions. Thus the microbiota is poised to play a key role in nutritional interventions for maintaining brain health.
The traditional fields of pharmacology and toxicology are beginning to consider the substantial impact our gut microbiota has on host physiology. The microbiota-gut-brain axis is emerging as a ...particular area of interest and a potential new therapeutic target for effective treatment of central nervous system disorders, in addition to being a potential cause of drug side effects. Microbiota-gut-brain axis signaling can occur via several pathways, including via the immune system, recruitment of host neurochemical signaling, direct enteric nervous system routes and the vagus nerve, and the production of bacterial metabolites. Altered gut microbial profiles have been described in several psychiatric and neurological disorders. Psychobiotics, live biotherapeutics or substances whose beneficial effects on the brain are bacterially mediated, are currently being investigated as direct and or adjunctive therapies for psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders and possibly for neurodegenerative disease, and they may emerge as new therapeutic options in the clinical management of brain disorders.
In December 2016, a panel of experts in microbiology, nutrition and clinical research was convened by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics to review the definition ...and scope of prebiotics. Consistent with the original embodiment of prebiotics, but aware of the latest scientific and clinical developments, the panel updated the definition of a prebiotic: a substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit. This definition expands the concept of prebiotics to possibly include non-carbohydrate substances, applications to body sites other than the gastrointestinal tract, and diverse categories other than food. The requirement for selective microbiota-mediated mechanisms was retained. Beneficial health effects must be documented for a substance to be considered a prebiotic. The consensus definition applies also to prebiotics for use by animals, in which microbiota-focused strategies to maintain health and prevent disease is as relevant as for humans. Ultimately, the goal of this Consensus Statement is to engender appropriate use of the term 'prebiotic' by relevant stakeholders so that consistency and clarity can be achieved in research reports, product marketing and regulatory oversight of the category. To this end, we have reviewed several aspects of prebiotic science including its development, health benefits and legislation.
It is well established that the gut microbiota plays an important role in host health and is perturbed by several factors including antibiotics. Antibiotic‐induced changes in microbial composition ...can have a negative impact on host health including reduced microbial diversity, changes in functional attributes of the microbiota, formation, and selection of antibiotic‐resistant strains making hosts more susceptible to infection with pathogens such as Clostridioides difficile. Antibiotic resistance is a global crisis and the increased use of antibiotics over time warrants investigation into its effects on microbiota and health. In this review, we discuss the adverse effects of antibiotics on the gut microbiota and thus host health, and suggest alternative approaches to antibiotic use.
Antibiotics can have several negative impacts on host health; both direct and indirect effects. The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in host health regulation. Effects of antibiotics on the host through the gut microbiome are immense and can affect various functions including immune regulation, metabolic activities, and thus overall health.
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