Research on the use of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in the treatment of disorders related to digestive system ailments in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is a new attempt in a therapeutic approach. There are very little scientific evidences available on this emerging alternative method. However, it appears to be interesting not only because of its primary outcome, relieving the gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, but also secondary therapeutic effect of alleviating autistic behavioral symptoms. FMT seems to be also promising method in the treatment of another group of pediatric patients, children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study is to discuss the potential use of FMT and modified protocols (MTT, microbiota transfer therapy) in the treatment of GI disorders in ASD children supported by reports on another disease, IBD concerning pediatric patients. Due to the few reports of the use of FMT in the treatment of children, these two patients groups were selected, although suffering from distant health conditions: neurodevelopmental disorder and gastrointestinal tract diseases, because of the the fact that they seem related in aspects of the presence of GI symptoms, disturbed intestinal microbiota, unexplained etiology of the condition and age range of patients. Although the outcomes for all are promising, this type of therapy is still an under-researched topic, studies in the group of pediatric patients are sparse, also there is a high risk of transmission of infectious and noninfectious elements during the procedure and no long-term effects on global health are known. For those reasons all obtained results should be taken with a great caution. However, in the context of future therapeutic directions for GI observed in neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases, the topic seems worthy of attention.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a class of plant steroid hormones that are essential for plant growth and development. BRs control important agronomic traits and responses to abiotic stresses. Through the signaling pathway, BRs control the expression of thousands of genes, resulting in a variety of biological responses. The key effectors of the BR pathway are two transcription factors (TFs): BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT 1 (BZR1) and BRI1-EMSSUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1). Both TFs are phosphorylated and inactivated by the Glycogen synthase kinase 3 BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE2 (BIN2), which acts as a negative regulator of the BR pathway. In our study, we describe the functional characteristics of HvGSK1.1, which is one of the GSK3/SHAGGY-like orthologs in barley. We generated mutant lines of HvGSK1.1 using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of the edited region of the HvGSK1.1 showed a wide variety of mutations. Most of the changes (frameshift, premature stop codon, and translation termination) resulted in the knock-out of the target gene. The molecular and phenotypic characteristics of the mutant lines showed that the knock-out mutation of HvGSK1.1 improved plant growth performance under salt stress conditions and increased the thousand kernel weight of the plants grown under normal conditions. The inactivation of HvGSK1.1 enhanced BR-dependent signaling, as indicated by the results of the leaf inclination assay in the edited lines. The plant traits under investigation are consistent with those known to be regulated by BRs. These results, together with studies of other GSK3 gene members in other plant species, suggest that targeted editing of these genes may be useful in creating plants with improved agricultural traits.

Schizophrenia is a multi-systemic disorder that is associated with lipid profile disturbances, altered glucose homeostasis and subclinical inflammation. It has been proposed that dysfunction of the gut-brain axis might underlie these alterations. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are considered to play a pivotal role in the gut-brain axis. In this study, we aimed to compare fecal levels of SCFAs in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls (HCs), taking into consideration their relationship with common peripheral blood alterations observed in schizophrenia. The study included 100 stable outpatients with schizophrenia and 55 HCs. The levels of SCFAs (acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, isobutyric acid, valeric acid, isovaleric acid, and lactic acid) in fecal samples were measured. Also, lipid profile together with the levels of C-reactive protein, glucose and insulin were determined. The levels of isovaleric acid were significantly higher in patients with schizophrenia after co-varying for age, sex, and the adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Moreover, there were significant positive correlations of the levels of valeric acid, isovaleric acid and CRP in patients with schizophrenia. In this group of participants, higher levels of isovaleric acid were associated with significantly lower scores of delayed memory after adjustment for potential covariates and interactions with CRP levels. Our results indicate that individuals with schizophrenia show altered levels of isovaleric acid that might be associated with impairments of delayed memory. The association with cognitive impairments might be independent of interactions with immune-inflammatory processes. Longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to test causal mechanisms of observed correlations.

Asthma etiopathology is still not fully determined. One of its possible causes can be found in airway microbiome dysbiosis. The study’s purpose was to determine whether there are any significant differences in the bacterial microbiome diversity of lower airways microbiota of asthmatic children, since knowledge of this topic is very scarce. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research using exhaled breath condensates in children’s lower airways for bacterial assessment. Exhaled breath condensates (EBC) and oropharyngeal swabs were obtained from pediatric asthmatic patients and a healthy group (n = 38, 19 vs. 19). The microbial assessment was conducted through genetic material PCR amplification, followed by bacterial 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Collected data were analyzed, in terms of taxonomy and alpha and beta diversity between assessed groups. Swab samples are characterized by higher species richness compared to exhaled breath condensates (Shannon diversity index (mean 4.11 vs. 2.867, p = 9.108 × 10⁻⁸), observed features (mean 77.4 vs. 17.3, p = 5.572 × 10⁻¹¹), and Faith’s phylogenetic diversity (mean 7.686 vs. 3.280 p = 1.296 × 10⁻¹⁰)). Asthmatic children had a higher abundance of bacterial species (Shannon diversity index, mean 3.029 vs. 2.642, p = 0.026) but more even distribution (Pielou’s evenness, mean 0.742 vs. 0.648, p = 0.002) in EBC than healthy ones; the same results were observed within pediatric patients born naturally within EBC samples. In children with a positive family history of allergic diseases, alpha diversity of lower airway material was increased (Shannon’s diversity index p = 0.026, Faith’s phylogenetic diversity p = 0.011, observed features p = 0.003). Class Gammaproteobacteria and Bacilli were less abundant among asthmatics in the exhaled breath samples. The most dominant bacteria on a phylum level in both sample types were Firmicutes, followed by Proteobacteria and Actinobacteriota. The obtained outcome of higher bacterial diversity of lower airways among asthmatic patients indicates a further need for future studies of microbiota connection with disease pathogenesis.

The defensive function of the intestinal mucosa depends both on the ability to secrete immunoglobulin A and communication with the mucus microbiome. In horses, the functioning of this system is also influenced by the presence of nematode eggs. Feces collected from healthy horses were examined to determine the fecal egg count, immunoglobulin A level (ELISA), microbiome composition (Next-Generation Sequencing, NGS, V3–V4 and V7–V9 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene analysis and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production ((high-performance liquid chromatography, HPLC). In the taxonomic analysis within the phylum, the following order of dominance was found: Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Verrucomicrobiota and Fibrobacterota. The coefficient of phylogenetic diversity of the microbiome positively correlated with both secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) [μg/g of feces] (p = 0.0354, r = 0.61) and SIgA [μg/mg of fecal protein] (p = 0.0382, r = 0.6) and with the number of Cyathostomum eggs (p = 0.0023, r = 0.79). Important components of the key microbiome in horses, such as phylum Proteobacteria and species Ruminococcus flavefaciens, were positively correlated with the fecal SIgA (p < 0.05). All the obtained results indicate the existence of significant relationships between the host response (SIgA production) and composition and SCFA production in the microbiome as well as the presence of small strongyles in the digestive tract of horses.

Cells modulate their physiology through multiple mechanisms—cell–cell contacts and autocrine/paracrine signaling, including via extracellular vesicles (EVs). In this study, we exposed mouse hippocampal astrocyte and neuron monocultures to EVs from the opposing cell type and subsequently performed RNA sequencing to examine transcriptomic changes. Mass spectrometry was used to analyze the proteomes of EVs from astrocyte and neuron monocultures, as well as from astrocyte‐neuron co‐cultures, to investigate the molecular basis of EVs‐induced transcriptomic alterations and to determine the extent to which cells adjust EV cargo in response to feedback signals. EVs secreted by both cell types induced cell‐specific transcriptomic changes in target cells, related to migration, proliferation, differentiation, and energy production. Unique changes in the proteome of EVs from astrocytic‐neuronal co‐cultures highlighted the dynamic regulation of signaling molecule secretion via cell interactions. image