Objective: While fecal microbiota transplantation is demonstrated to improve symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it remains unclear whether additional treatment courses yield better results. This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of repeated washed microbiota transplantation (WMT) in children with ASD.Methods: Retrospective data from children who were serially treated with WMT, including ASD symptoms, sleep disorders, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, and white blood cell (WBC) and globulin levels were obtained. The effect of WMT on children with ASD and whether additional WMT courses led to a further improvement in symptoms were assessed.Results: Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), Childhood Autism Rating Scale, and Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) scores, the proportion of children with constipation and abnormal fecal forms, and WBC and globulin levels were all significantly lower in ASD children after WMT. More WMT treatment courses led to significantly lower scores on the ABC and SDSC.Conclusion: WMT significantly improved ASD and GI symptoms and sleep disorders in children with ASD, and reduced systemic inflammation. Additional WMT courses led to more obvious improvements in ASD symptoms within three treatment courses.

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria has become a major global health problem. One of the main reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes is the human gut microbiota. To characterise these genes, a metagenomic approach was used. In this study, a comprehensive antibiotic resistome catalog was established using fecal samples from 246 healthy individuals from world’s longevity township in Jiaoling, China. In total, 606 antibiotic resistance genes were detected. Our results indicated that antibiotic resistance genes in the human gut microbiota accumulate and become more complex with age as older groups harbour the highest abundance of these genes. Tetracycline resistance gene type tetQ was the most abundant group of antibiotic resistance genes in gut microbiota, and the main carrier of antibiotic resistance genes was Bacteroides. Antibiotic efflux, inactivation, and target alteration were found to be the dominant antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. This research may help to establish a comprehensive antibiotic resistance catalog that includes extremely long-lived healthy people such as centenarians, and may provide potential recommendations for controlling the use of antibiotics.

Background. Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common and potentially life-threatening inflammatory disease that can cause various complications, including systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), pleural effusion, ascitic fluid, myocardial infarction, and acute kidney injury (AKI). However, there is still a lack of rapid and effective indicators to assess the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of high serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels with AP severity and systemic complications. Methods. AP patients treated from July 2014 to December 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. They were divided into elevated ( ) and normal ( ) LDH groups. Their demographic data, clinical data, hospital duration, and hospital expenses were analyzed. Linear and binary logistic regression analyses were used to determine whether elevated LDH is a risk factor for AP severity and complications after adjusting for confounders. Results. There were significant differences in AP severity scores (Ranson, MODS, BISAP, APACHE II, and CTSI), hospital duration, hospital expenses, and the incidences of complications (SIRS, pleural effusion, ascitic fluid, myocardial infarction, and AKI) between the elevated and normal LDH groups. After adjusting for confounders, elevated LDH was associated with AP severity scores and hospital duration and expenses (based on linear regression analyses) and was a risk factor for the occurrence of AP complications and interventions, that is, diuretic and vasoactive agent use (based on binary logistic regression analyses). Conclusions. Elevated LDH is associated with high AP severity scores and high incidences of complications (SIRS, pleural effusion, ascitic fluid, myocardial infarction, and AKI).

Clinical and experimental research has revealed that diabetes mellitus (DM) is characterized by intestinal hypomotility, gut microbial dysbiosis, increased gut permeability, microcirculation disorders, circulatory changes, and dysfunction of intestinal stem cells, which may be linked to inflammation of intestinal mucosa. However, the relationship between type 2 DM (T2DM) and macroscopic small intestinal mucosal injuries is still unclear. Therefore, we retrospectively studied capsule endoscopy data to determine the relationship between T2DM and small intestinal mucosal injuries. We compared the records of 38 T2DM patients with those of 152 non-DM patients for small intestinal mucosal injuries. Different types of mucosal injuries and Lewis scores were compared between T2DM and non-DM patients. The relationships between patients with or without different types of diabetic complications and the Lewis score was assessed. Moreover, the relationships between insulin resistance and Lewis score, between HbA1c and Lewis score, were also both assessed. The prevalence of a villous edema in subjects with T2DM was significantly higher than in those without DM (P < 0.001), but incidence of ulcers was not different (P = 1.000). With T2DM, the Lewis score was also significantly higher (P = 0.002). In addition, subjects with diabetic nephropathy showed significantly higher Lewis scores than patients without diabetic nephropathy (P = 0.033). In Pearson’s correlation tests, the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) value was correlated positively with the Lewis score (γ = 0.175, P = 0.015), but no statistical correlation was found between HbA1c level and Lewis score (γ = 0.039, P = 0.697). Subjects with T2DM, especially those with diabetic nephropathy, have higher Lewis scores and more serious small intestinal mucosal lesions.

Background: Overweight (OW) and obesity have become increasingly serious public health problems worldwide. The clinical impact of washed microbiota transplantation (WMT) from healthy donors in OW patients is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of WMT in OW patients. Methods: The changes in body mass index (BMI = weight (kg)/height (m)²), blood glucose, blood lipids and other indicators before and after WMT were compared. At the same time, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was performed on fecal samples of OW patients before and after transplantation. Finally, serum samples were tested for sphingolipids targeted by lipid metabolomics. Results: A total of 166 patients were included, including 52 in the OW group and 114 in the normal weight (NOW) group. For OW patients, WMT significantly improved the comprehensive efficacy of OW. In the short term (about 1 month) and medium term (about 2 months), a significant reduction in BMI was seen. At the same time, in the short term (about 1 month), liver fat attenuation (LFA), triglyceride (TG) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were significantly reduced. In the long term (about 5 months), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL-c), etc. were significantly reduced. WMT improved the gut microbiota of OW patients, and also had an improvement effect on OW patients by regulating sphingolipid metabolism. Conclusion: WMT had a significant improvement effect on OW patients. WMT could restore gut microbiota homeostasis and improve OW patients by regulating sphingolipid metabolism.