Probiotics to counteract biofilm-associated infections: promising and conflicting data

Altered bowel flora is currently thought to play a role in a variety of disease conditions, and the use of Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp. as probiotics has been demonstrated to be health-promoting, even if the success of their administration depends on the applied bacterial strain（s） and the targeted disease. In the last few decades, specific probiotics have been shown to be effective in the treatment or the prevention of acute viral gastroenteritis, pediatric post-antibiotic-associated diarrhea, some pediatric allergic disorders, necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants, inflammatory bowel diseases and postsurgical pouchitis. The potential application of probiotics is continuously widening, with new evidence accumulating to support their effect on the prevention and treatment of other disease conditions, including several oral diseases, such as dental caries, periodontal diseases and oral malodor, as well as genitourinary and wound infections. Considering the increasingly widespread ability of pathogens to generate persistent biofilm-related infections, an even more attractive proposal is to administer probiotics to prevent or counteract biofilm development.The response of biofilm-based oral, intestinal, vaginal and wound infections to probiotics treatment will be reviewed here in light of the most recent results obtained in this field.

Role of the gut microbiota in inflammatory bowel disease pathogenesis: What have we learnt in the past 10 years?

Our understanding of the microbial involvement in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pathogenesis has increased exponentially over the past decade. The development of newer molecular tools for the global assessment of the gut microbiome and the identification of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2 in 2001 and other susceptibility genes for Crohn’s disease in particular has led to better understanding of the aetiopathogenesis of IBD. The microbial studies have elaborated the normal composition of the gut microbiome and its perturbations in the setting of IBD. This altered microbiome or “dysbiosis” is a key player in the protracted course of inflammation in IBD. Numerous genome-wide association studies have identified further genes involved in gastrointestinal innate immunity (including polymorphisms in genes involved in autophagy: ATG16L1 and IGRM), which have helped elucidate the relationship of the local innate immunity with the adjacent luminal bacteria. These developments have also spurred the search for specific pathogens which may have a role in the metamorphosis of the gut microbiome from a symbiotic entity to a putative pathogenic one. Here we review advances in our understanding of microbial involvement in IBD pathogenesis over the past 10 years and offer insight into how this will shape our therapeutic management of the disease in the coming years.

Advancements in nutritional diagnosis and support strategies during the perioperative period for patients with liver cancer

Liver cancer represents a grave hepatic condition and constitutes a significant global health concern.Surgical resection remains the principal therapeutic modality for liver cancer.Nevertheless,perioperative malnutrition exerts a notable impact on patients with liver cancer,emerging as an independent risk factor for disease mortality and adverse outcomes.Hence,precise nutritional diagnosis and timely nutritional support hold the potential to enhance therapeutic efficacy and quality of life for liver cancer patients.This study represents a meticulous foray into the literature,extracting data from PubMed,Web of Science,and EMBASE databases,with a focus on the past 5 years.It scrutinizes the impact of malnutrition on patients undergoing liver cancer surgery,the etiological underpinnings of malnutrition within this patient cohort,the critical assessment of perioperative nutritional status,and the strategic approaches to nutritional support.Utilizing rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria,the amassed scholarly works are meticulously synthesized,methodically organized,and categorically elaborated upon.Ultimately,the authors propose the incorporation of a multidisciplinary nutrition management team during the perioperative period,comprising nutritionists,pharmacists,physicians,nurses,psychologists,and rehabilitation therapists,among other specialized professionals.Together,they collaborate to devise and implement personalized nutritional support plans,monitor patients’nutritional status,and make necessary adjustments as required.Through comprehensive management and intervention,improvements in the nutritional status of liver cancer patients can be achieved,thereby enhancing surgical success rates and facilitating postoperative recovery.It is believed that this manuscript will offer valuable insights to advance the nutritional management during the perioperative phase of liver cancer,aiding in ameliorating patients'nutritional status and treatment outcomes.