Modulating the Microbiome for Crohn's Disease Treatment

The central role of the gut microbiota in the regulation of health and disease has been convincingly demonstrated. Polymicrobial interkingdom interactions between bacterial (the bacteriome) and fungal (the mycobiome) communities of the gut have become a prominent focus for development of potential therapeutic approaches. In addition to polymicrobial interactions, the complex gut ecosystem also mediates interactions between the host and the microbiota. These interactions are complex and bidirectional; microbiota composition can be influenced by host immune response, disease-specific therapeutics, antimicrobial drugs, and overall ecosystems. However, the gut microbiota also influences host immune response to a drug or therapy by potentially transforming the drug's structure and altering bioavailability, activity, or toxicity. This is especially true in cases where the gut microbiota has produced a biofilm. The negative ramifications of biofilm formation include alteration of gut permeability, enhanced antimicrobial resistance, and alteration of host immune response effectiveness. Natural modulation of the gut microbiota, using probiotic and prebiotic approaches, may also be used to affect the host microbiome, a type of "natural" modulation of the host microbiota composition. In this review, we discuss potential bidirectional interactions between microbes and host, and we describe the changes in gut microbiota induced by probiotic and prebiotic approaches as well as their potential clinical consequences, including biofilm formation. We outline a systematic approach to designing probiotics capable of altering the host microbiota in disease states, using Crohn's disease as a model chronic disease. Understanding how the effective changes in the microbiome may enhance treatment efficacy may unlock the possibility of modulating the gut microbiome to improve treatment using a natural approach.

Exo-Clinical Trials of Nutritional Supplements for Sexual Dysfunction: Precedents, Principles, and Protocols

INTRODUCTION

Care-seeking for sexual dysfunction is limited by embarrassment, efficacy/safety concerns, and cost. Nutritional supplements (NSs) are low-cost but unproven.

AIM

To provide hypotheses on whether effective NS combinations for sexual dysfunction can be created following known pharmacology principles and tested with sufficient rigor in Internet-based "exo-clinical" trials (XCTs).

METHODS

PubMed and Google searches were conducted to review the feasibility of XCTs of NS combinations for sexual dysfunction. Findings were synthesized into recommendations for XCTs to treat the most common sexual problems.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

The hierarchy of references used for making recommendations was controlled clinical trials over uncontrolled trials. The frequency of sexual dysfunction was determined in population-representative national surveys.

RESULTS

XCTs of cognitive behavioral therapy show conclusive efficacy for anxiety and depression. 5 small XCTs showed efficacy for female sexual dysfunction and erectile dysfunction (ED), and 2 XCTs of NS for other medical problems substantiated feasibility. To test the feasibility of XCTs for the most common forms of sexual dysfunction-ED, hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), and sexual performance anxiety-protocol outlines were generated for frugal XCTs; the total estimated subject time burden is ≤1 hour.

CONCLUSION

An XCT is a cost-effective method of evaluating new treatments, including sexual dysfunction and common mental disorders, if compliance is maintained by regular outreach while minimizing the time burden on subjects and handling consent and privacy issues appropriately. NS combinations might expand the opportunities for relief of sexual dysfunction if formulated with pharmacologically active doses of NS with already supported efficacy and safety. The feasibility of XCTs of NS combinations for sexual dysfunction might be tested most productively in men with ED, in women with HSDD, and in men and women with sexual performance anxiety. Pyke RE. Exo-Clinical Trials of Nutritional Supplements for Sexual Dysfunction: Precedents, Principles, and Protocols. Sex Med Rev 2019;7:251-258.

Recent advances in the management of dry age-related macular degeneration: A review

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most important cause of vision loss in elderly people, is a degenerative disorder of the central retina with a multifactorial etiopathology. AMD is classified in dry AMD (d-AMD) or neovascular AMD depending on the presence of choroidal neovascularization. Currently, no therapy is approved for geographic atrophy, the late form of d-AMD, because no treatment can restore the damage of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) or photoreceptors. For this reason, all treatment approaches in d-AMD are only likely to prevent and slow down the progression of existing atrophy. This review focuses on the management of d-AMD and especially on current data about potential targets for therapies evaluated in clinical trials.

Numerous examinations are available in clinics to monitor morphological changes in the retina, RPE and choroid of d-AMD patients. Fundus autofluorescence and optical coherence tomography (OCT) are considered the most useful tools in the diagnosis and follow-up of d-AMD alterations, including the monitoring of atrophy area progression. Instead, OCT-angiography is a novel imaging tool that may add further information in patients affected by d-AMD.

Several pathways, including oxidative stress, deposits of lipofuscin, chronic inflammation and choroidal blood flow insufficiency, seem to play an important role in the pathogenesis of d-AMD and represent possible targets for new therapies. A great number of treatments for d-AMD are under investigation with promising results in preliminary studies. However, only few of these drugs will enter the market, offering a therapeutic chance to patients affected by the dry form of AMD and help them to preserve a good visual acuity. Further studies with a long-term follow-up would be important to test the real safety and efficacy of drugs under investigation.

Seasonal variations of vitamin D concentrations in pregnant women and neonates in Slovenia

OBJECTIVE

While foreign research shows a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women and consequently in neonates, we do not have any data on vitamin D concentration in these risk groups for Slovenia. We performed a prospective study to evaluate vitamin D concentration in pregnant women and neonates in Maribor region.

STUDY DESIGN

We determined 25-hydroxy-vitamin D concentration from blood samples taken before delivery from 100 pregnant women who gave birth in Maribor University Clinical Centre in September and December 2013, respectively, and from the cord blood of their neonates. We collected data on nutrition and sun exposure during pregnancy. We calculated the vitamin D concentrations in pregnant women and neonates according to season of birth and use of nutrition supplements, determined the vitamin D levels in some pregnancy complications and checked the correlation of maternal and neonatal vitamin D concentrations.

RESULTS

The average vitamin D concentration in the September group was 54.3±25.2nmol/L, and in the December group 33.3±18.6nmol/L (p<0.001). Optimal vitamin D concentration (>80nmol/L) was reached by 12.0% of pregnant women in September and by only 2.0% in December. Women who took nutrition supplements containing vitamin D during pregnancy had significantly higher vitamin D levels than those who did not (September 68.9±27.0nmol/L vs. 46.5±20.3nmol/L, p<0.001; December 38.7±17.9nmol/L vs. 30.2±18.4nmol/L, p=0.028). Neonates had higher average levels of vitamin D than their mothers but there was a good correlation between maternal and neonatal vitamin D values.

CONCLUSION

Vitamin D deficiency is very common in pregnant women in Slovenia as well, especially in winter and in those women who do not take nutrition supplements containing vitamin D.