New knowledge about the gut microbiota and its interaction with the host’s metabolic regulation has emerged during the last few decades. Several factors may affect the composition of the gut microbiota, including dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is not hydrolyzed by human digestive enzymes, but it is acted upon by gut microbes, and metabolites like short-chain fatty acids are produced. The short-chain fatty acids may be absorbed into the circulation and affect metabolic regulation in the host or be a substrate for other microbes. Some studies have shown improved insulin sensitivity, weight regulation, and reduced inflammation with increases in gut-derived short-chain fatty acids, all of which may reduce the risk of developing metabolic diseases. To what extent a dietary intervention with fiber may affect the human gut microbiota and hence metabolic regulation, is however, currently not well described. The aim of the present review is to summarize recent research on human randomized, controlled intervention studies investigating the effect of dietary fiber on gut microbiota and metabolic regulation. Metabolic regulation is discussed with respect to markers relating to glycemic regulation and lipid metabolism. Taken together, the papers on which the current review is based, suggest that dietary fiber has the potential to change the gut microbiota and alter metabolic regulation. However, due to the heterogeneity of the studies, a firm conclusion describing the causal relationship between gut microbiota and metabolic regulation remains elusive.

there is a growing awareness of the importance of indoor microbiomes for human health. Given their complexity, these microbiomes can only be adequately surveyed using high throughput sequencing techniques. oxford nanopore's Minion is the newest third generation sequencing technology on the market. With its many advantages such as portability, user friendliness, simplicity, speed of sequencing and long read length, the technology is now an actual contender to established sequencing platforms. MinION's main disadvantage is a relatively low read accuracy compared to several other platforms, although this is constantly improving. The present study, which appears to be the first of its kind, provides the results of a preliminary analysis of the microbial communities in indoor environments based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, using both the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) MinIOn and the Illumina MiSeq DNA sequencers. At the level of family and above, there was no significant difference between the microbial compositions as revealed by the two platforms. However, at the genus, and particularly at the species level, the ONT MinION reported greater taxonomic resolution than illumina MiSeq.

An improved synthesis of (+)-agelasine D (10) from (+)-manool is reported together with cytotoxic and antibacterial data for agelasine D and structurally close synthetic analogues. These compounds display a broad spectrum of antibacterial activities including effects on M. tuberculosis and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (both aerobes and anaerobes). They exhibit profound cytotoxic activity against several cancer cells, including a multidrug-resistant cell line. (+)-Agelasine D (10) has been isolated earlier from a marine sponge (Agelas sp.).

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It is concluded that the novel paraben mixtures 47% M, 23.5% E, 6.0% P, 23.5% B and 44.5% M, 44.5% P, 11.0% B at 0.05-0.1% w/v represent improvements on the widely used combination 50% M, 35% E, 10% P, 5% B within the framework of the current tests, and should be considered as alternatives.

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Agelasines and agelasimines are antimicrobial and cytotoxic purine derivatives isolated from marine sponges (Agelas sp.). We have synthesized structurally simplified analogs of these natural products starting from beta-cyclocitral. The novel compounds were found to be strong inhibitors of a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms (incl. Mycobacterium tuberculosis) as well as cancer cell lines. The biological activities were generally in the same range as those previously found for the structurally more complex agelasines and agelasimines isolated in small amounts from natural sources. We also report for the first time that agelasine and agelasimine analogs inhibit growth of protozoa (Acanthamoeba castellanii and Acanthamoeba polyphaga). Acanthamoeba keratitis is an increasingly common and severe corneal infection, closely associated with contact lens wear.