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Special Issue "The Interplay between Immunity and Microbiota in Human Health and Diseases"

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A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Immunology and Immunotherapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2023 | Viewed by 12338

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Dr. Laura Franza

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Guest Editor

Department of Emergency Medicine, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
Interests: inflammation; microbiota; immunology; sepsis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The importance of microbiota in determining health and disease is a topic that has gained more and more visibility over the last few years. Microbiota has been implied in many gastrointestinal conditions, but also in other disorders—for instance, autoimmune diseases and even cancer in some cases. In particular, microbiota appears to play an important role in modulating immune response.

The full extent of the importance of microbiota, though, is still not completely understood, and many areas are still grey in this field. In this Special Issue, we hope to collect relevant papers focusing on the role of microbiota in different conditions. Authors are welcome to send different types of articles, focusing on microbiota and its role in different conditions. We encourage authors to focus on the role of the immune system in these interactions.

Dr. Laura Franza
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

immunity
microbiota
inflammation
infection
cancer
autoimmune disorders
disease

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Cell-Free Supernatant Derived from a Lactobacillus casei BL23 Culture Modifies the Antiviral and Immunomodulatory Capacity of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Szabolcs Muzsai

Ore-Matan Maryanovsky

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Biomedicines 2023, 11(6), 1521; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11061521 - 24 May 2023

Viewed by 286

Abstract

Immune responses are highly complex and intricately regulated processes involving immune and non-immune cells in close direct and indirect contact with each other. These cells are highly sensitive to environmental signals, including factors derived from microbiota. Here, we demonstrate that the human microbiota member Lactobacillus casei (L. casei)-derived cell-free supernatant (CFS) enhances the sensitivity of mesenchymal-stromal-cell-like (MSCI) cells to viral stimuli and induces the development of dendritic cells (DCs) with anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties via pretreated MSCl cells. Our results showed that the production of INFβ and CXCL10 by MSCl cells upon viral stimulation was dependent on the presence of L. casei-derived extracellular vesicles in CFS during pretreatment. Moreover, L. casei CFS and/or poly (I:C)-conditioned MSCI cells altered the differentiation process of freshly isolated monocytes, as well as the developing DCs’ phenotype and functional activities, such as cytokine and chemokine secretion. Taken together, L. casei CFS contains factors which contribute to the pronounced antiviral response of MSCI cells, avoiding the development of inflammation via the induction of differentiation of anti-inflammatory DCs that retain their antiviral properties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interplay between Immunity and Microbiota in Human Health and Diseases)

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Open AccessArticle

Alterations in Gut Microbiota Composition in Patients with COVID-19: A Pilot Study of Whole Hypervariable 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing

Dorota Mańkowska-Wierzbicka

Oliwia Zakerska-Banaszak

Ryszard Slomski

Marzena Skrzypczak-Zielinska

and

Agnieszka Dobrowolska

Biomedicines 2023, 11(2), 367; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11020367 - 27 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2440

Abstract

It is crucial to consider the importance of the microbiome and the gut–lung axis in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This pilot study examined the fecal microbial composition of patients with COVID-19 following a 3-month recovery. Using for the first time metagenomic analysis based on all hypervariable regions (V1-V9) of the 16S rRNA gene, we have identified 561 microbial species; however, 17 were specific only for the COVID-19 group (n = 8). The patients’ cohorts revealed significantly greater alpha diversity of the gut microbiota compared to healthy controls (n = 14). This finding has been demonstrated by operational taxonomic units (OTUs) richness (p < 0.001) and Chao1 index (p < 0.01). The abundance of the phylum Verrucomicrobia was 30 times higher in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy subjects. Accordingly, this disproportion was also noted at other taxonomic levels: in the class Verrucomicrobiae, the family Verrucomicrobiaceae, and the genus Akkermansia. Elevated pathobionts such as Escherichia coli, Bilophila wadsworthia, and Parabacteroides distasonis were found in COVID-19 patients. Considering the gut microbiota’s ability to disturb the immune response, our findings suggest the importance of the enteric microbiota in the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This pilot study shows that the composition of the microbial community may not be fully restored in individuals with SARS-CoV-2 following a 3-month recovery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interplay between Immunity and Microbiota in Human Health and Diseases)

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Open AccessCommunication

Toxin-like Peptides from the Bacterial Cultures Derived from Gut Microbiome Infected by SARS-CoV-2—New Data for a Possible Role in the Long COVID Pattern

Carlo Brogna

Simone Cristoni

Barbara Brogna

Domenico Rocco Bisaccia

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Biomedicines 2023, 11(1), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11010087 - 29 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3701

Abstract

It has been 3 years since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, however it is as yet little known how to care for the acute COVID-19 and long COVID patients. COVID-19 clinical manifestations are of both pulmonary and extra-pulmonary types. Extra-pulmonary ones include extreme tiredness (fatigue), shortness of breath, muscle aches, hyposmia, dysgeusia, and other neurological manifestations. In other autoimmune diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) or Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), it is well known that role of acetylcholine is crucial in olfactory dysfunction. We have already observed the presence of toxin-like peptides in plasma, urine, and faecal samples from COVID-19 patients, which are very similar to molecules known to alter acetylcholine signaling. After observing the production of these peptides in bacterial cultures, we have performed additional proteomics analyses to better understand their behavior and reported the extended data from our latest in vitro experiment. It seems that the gut microbiome continues to produce toxin-like peptides also after the decrease of RNA SARS-CoV-2 viral load at molecular tests. These toxicological interactions between the gut/human microbiome bacteria and the virus suggest a new scenario in the study of the clinical symptoms in long COVID and also in acute COVID-19 patients. It is discussed that in the bacteriophage similar behavior, the presence of toxins produced by bacteria continuously after viral aggression can be blocked using an appropriate combination of certain drugs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interplay between Immunity and Microbiota in Human Health and Diseases)

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Open AccessArticle

The Relationship between the Oral Microbiota and Metabolic Syndrome

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Biomedicines 2023, 11(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11010003 - 20 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1022

Abstract

The oral microbiota plays a crucial role in both systemic inflammation and metabolic syndrome (MetS), which is characterised by low-grade inflammation. Studies have analysed the gut microbiota using stool specimens from subjects with MetS; however, the etiological role of the oral microbiota in the development of MetS is still uncertain. We investigated the oral microbiota of 128 subgingival plaque samples from a South African cohort with and without MetS. After a comprehensive analysis of the oral microbiota, we observed a significant increase in Gram-positive aerobic and anaerobic microbiota in those with MetS. We observed an abundance of Actinomyces, Corynebacterium, and Fusobacterium genera in the MetS group, which differed significantly from previous studies, which found Granulicatella to be enriched in MetS. To further assess the impact of the metabolic parameters (FBG, Waist C, HDL, TGs, and BP) on the oral microbiota, we calculated the odds ratio (ORs) for significant oral microbiota identified between the MetS groups. We found that different species were associated with at least four MetS risk factors. This study has shown that the oral microbiota is disrupted in MetS and may promote inflammation providing a gateway to other systemic diseases, including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interplay between Immunity and Microbiota in Human Health and Diseases)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

Gut Microbiota, LADA, and Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: An Evolving Relationship

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Biomedicines 2023, 11(3), 707; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11030707 - 25 Feb 2023

Viewed by 864

Abstract

There is much evidence confirming the crucial role played by the gut microbiota in modulating the immune system in the onset of autoimmune diseases. In this article, we focus on the relationship between alterations in the microbiome and the onset of diabetes mellitus type 1 and LADA, in light of the latest evidence. We will then look at both how the role of the gut microbiota appears to be increasingly crucial in the pathogenesis of these disorders and how this aspect may be instrumental in the development of new potential therapeutic strategies that modulate the gut microbiota, such as probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interplay between Immunity and Microbiota in Human Health and Diseases)

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Open AccessReview

Crosstalk between Gut Microbiota and Host Immunity: Impact on Inflammation and Immunotherapy

Connor Campbell

Mrunmayee R. Kandalgaonkar

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Biomedicines 2023, 11(2), 294; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11020294 - 20 Jan 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2062

Abstract

Gut microbes and their metabolites are actively involved in the development and regulation of host immunity, which can influence disease susceptibility. Herein, we review the most recent research advancements in the gut microbiota–immune axis. We discuss in detail how the gut microbiota is a tipping point for neonatal immune development as indicated by newly uncovered phenomenon, such as maternal imprinting, in utero intestinal metabolome, and weaning reaction. We describe how the gut microbiota shapes both innate and adaptive immunity with emphasis on the metabolites short-chain fatty acids and secondary bile acids. We also comprehensively delineate how disruption in the microbiota–immune axis results in immune-mediated diseases, such as gastrointestinal infections, inflammatory bowel diseases, cardiometabolic disorders (e.g., cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and hypertension), autoimmunity (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis), hypersensitivity (e.g., asthma and allergies), psychological disorders (e.g., anxiety), and cancer (e.g., colorectal and hepatic). We further encompass the role of fecal microbiota transplantation, probiotics, prebiotics, and dietary polyphenols in reshaping the gut microbiota and their therapeutic potential. Continuing, we examine how the gut microbiota modulates immune therapies, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, JAK inhibitors, and anti-TNF therapies. We lastly mention the current challenges in metagenomics, germ-free models, and microbiota recapitulation to a achieve fundamental understanding for how gut microbiota regulates immunity. Altogether, this review proposes improving immunotherapy efficacy from the perspective of microbiome-targeted interventions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interplay between Immunity and Microbiota in Human Health and Diseases)

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Open AccessReview

The Role of Gut Microbiota in Heart Failure: When Friends Become Enemies

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Biomedicines 2022, 10(11), 2712; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10112712 - 26 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1189

Abstract

Heart failure is a complex health issue, with important consequences on the overall wellbeing of patients. It can occur both in acute and chronic forms and, in the latter, the immune system appears to play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. In particular, in the forms with preserved ejection fraction or with only mildly reduced ejection fraction, some specific associations with chronic inflammatory diseases have been observed. Another interesting aspect that is worth considering is the role of microbiota modulation, in this context: given the importance of microbiota in the modulation of immune responses, it is possible that changes in its composition may somewhat influence the progression and even the pathogenesis of heart failure. In this narrative review, we aim to examine the relationship between immunity and heart failure, with a special focus on the role of microbiota in this pathological condition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interplay between Immunity and Microbiota in Human Health and Diseases)

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