Aim: This article aims to explore the role of the human gut microbiota (GM) in the pathogenesis of neurological, psychiatric, and neurodevelopmental disorders, highlighting its influence on health and disease, and investigating potential therapeutic strategies targeting GM modulation. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive analysis of the gut microbiota’s composition and its interaction with the human body, particularly, its role in neurological and psychiatric conditions, is provided. The review discusses factors influencing GM composition, including birth mode, breastfeeding, diet, medications, and geography. Additionally, it examines the GM’s functions, such as nutrient absorption, immune regulation, and pathogen defense, alongside its interactions with the nervous system through the gut–brain axis, neurotransmitters, and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Results: Alterations in the GM are linked to various disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, and autism. The GM influences cognitive functions, stress responses, and mood regulation. Antibiotic use disrupts GM diversity, increasing the risk of metabolic disorders, obesity, and allergic diseases. Emerging therapies such as probiotics, prebiotics, and microbiota transplantation show promise in modulating the GM and alleviating symptoms of neurological and psychiatric conditions. Conclusions. The modulation of the GM represents a promising approach for personalized treatment strategies. Further research is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms and to develop targeted therapies aimed at restoring GM balance for improved clinical outcomes.

The human immune system is closely linked to microbiota such as a complex symbiotic relationship during the coevolution of vertebrates and microorganisms. The transfer of microorganisms from the mother’s microbiota to the newborn begins before birth during gestation and is considered the initial phase of the intestinal microbiota (IM). The gut is an important site where microorganisms can establish colonies. The IM contains polymicrobial communities, which show complex interactions with diet and host immunity. The tendency towards dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota is influenced by local but also extra-intestinal factors such as inflammatory processes, infections, or a septic state that can aggravate it. Pathogens could trigger an immune response, such as proinflammatory responses. In addition, changes in the host immune system also influence the intestinal community and structure with additional translocation of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. Finally, local intestinal inflammation has been found to be an important factor in the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, particularly in its role in sepsis. The aim of this article is to be able to detect the current knowledge of the mechanisms that can lead to dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota and that can cause bacterial translocation with a risk of infection or septic state and vice versa.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a combination of metabolic disorders that concurrently act as factors promoting systemic pathologies such as atherosclerosis or diabetes mellitus. It is now believed to encompass six main interacting conditions: visceral fat, imbalance of lipids (dyslipidemia), hypertension, insulin resistance (with or without impairing both glucose tolerance and fasting blood sugar), and inflammation. In the last 10 years, there has been a progressive interest through scientific research investigations conducted in the field of metabolomics, confirming a trend to evaluate the role of the metabolome, particularly the intestinal one. The intestinal microbiota (IM) is crucial due to the diversity of microorganisms and their abundance. Consequently, IM dysbiosis and its derivate toxic metabolites have been correlated with MetS. By intervening in these two factors (dysbiosis and consequently the metabolome), we can potentially prevent or slow down the clinical effects of the MetS process. This, in turn, may mitigate dysregulations of intestinal microbiota axes, such as the lung axis, thereby potentially alleviating the negative impact on respiratory pathology, such as the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the biomolecular mechanisms through which the IM influences the host’s metabolism via a dysbiosis metabolome in both normal and pathological conditions are still unclear. In this study, we seek to provide a description of the knowledge to date of the IM and its metabolome and the factors that influence it. Furthermore, we analyze the interactions between the functions of the IM and the pathophysiology of major metabolic diseases via local and systemic metabolome’s relate endotoxemia.

Daily, a lot of food is wasted, and vegetables, fruit, and cereals as well as marine products represent the major sources of unwanted by-products. The sustainability, waste recovery, and revalorization of food by-products have been proposed as the main goals of the so-called circular economy. In fact, food wastes are enriched in by-products endowed with beneficial effects on human health. Grape, olives, vegetables, and rice contain different compounds, such as polyphenols, dietary fibers, polysaccharides, vitamins, and proteins, which exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, inhibiting pro-oxidant genes and the Nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kβ) pathway, as demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo experiments. Dietary fibers act upon the gut microbiota, expanding beneficial bacteria, which contribute to healthy outcomes. Furthermore, marine foods, even including microalgae, arthropods, and wastes of fish, are rich in carotenoids, polyphenols, polyunsaturated fatty acids, proteins, and chitooligosaccharides, which afford antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection. The present review will cover the major by-products derived from food wastes, describing the mechanisms of action involved in the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, as well as the modulation of the gut microbiota. The effects of some by-products have also been explored in clinical trials, while others, such as marine by-products, need more investigation for their full exploitation as bioactive compounds in humans.

In the area of Emergency Room (ER), many patients present criteria compatible with a SIRS, but only some of them have an associated infection. The new definition of sepsis by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (2016), revolutionizes precedent criteria, overcoming the concept of SIRS and clearly distinguishing the infection with the patient’s physiological response from the symptoms of sepsis. Another fundamental change concerns the recognition method: The use of SOFA (Sequential-Sepsis Related-Organ Failure Assessment Score) as reference score for organ damage assessment. Also, the use of the qSOFA is based on the use of three objective parameters: Altered level of consciousness (GCS 18 mg/dL in despite of an adequate volume resuscitation. Then, patient first management is mainly based on: (1) Recognition of the potentially septic patient (sepsis protocol-qSOFA); (2) Laboratory investigations; (3) Empirical antibiotic therapy in patients with sepsis and septic shock. With this in mind, the authors discuss the most important aspects of the sepsis in both adults and infants, and also consider the possible treatment according current guidelines. In addition, the possible role of some nutraceuticals as supportive therapy in septic patient is also discussed.

Background: There is not a time in the history when epidemics did not loom large: infectious diseases have always had civilisation and evolution-altering consequences. Throughout history, there have been a number of pandemics: cholera, bubonic plague, influenza, smallpox are some of the most brutal killers in human history. Historical accounts of pandemics clearly demonstrate that war, unhygienic conditions, social and health inequality create conditions for the transmission of infectious diseases, and existing health disparities can contribute to unequal morbidity and mortality. The Renaissance was a period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages, but it was also the time when new infectious disease appeared, such as Syphilis. The epidemic spread of Syphilis began between the late 15th century and early 16th century due to the increased migration of peoples across Europe. The rapid spread of venereal syphilis throughout Europe suggests the introduction of a disease into a population that had not previously been exposed. Syphilis is a type of treponematosis, which includes syphilis, bejel, yaws, and pinta, but, while syphilis is venereal disease, the others are nonvenereal. Syphilis was, at the beginning, a disease of great severity due to its novelty, as the population had no time to gain any immunity against this venereal disease.Methods: The purpose of this study is to investigate the origin of syphilis and the evolution of the treatments from the empiric means to the discovery of penicillin, but also to understand how this venereal disease has largely influenced human lifestyle and evolution.Conclusions: The first of the three hypotheses about its origins is the Columbian hypothesis, which states that Columbus's crew acquired syphilis from Native Americans and carried it back to Europe in 1493 A. D. On the contrary, the second hypothesis (pre-Columbian) asserts that syphilis was present in Europe long before Columbus's voyage and was transferred to the New World by Columbus's men. The Unitarian theory argues that syphilis, bejel, yaws, and pinta are not separate diseases but they represent syndromes caused by slightly different strains of one organism. Nowadays, Syphilis’ origin is still uncertain and remains controversial. However, the large impact on the social behavior and international public health is an important reason to investigate about its origins and how to prevent the transmission.