Many analyses of the human gut microbiome depend on a catalog of reference genes. Existing catalogs for the human gut microbiome are based on samples from single cohorts or on reference genomes or protein sequences, which limits coverage of global microbiome diversity. Here we combined 249 newly sequenced samples of the Metagenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract (MetaHit) project with 1,018 previously sequenced samples to create a cohort from three continents that is at least threefold larger than cohorts used for previous gene catalogs. From this we established the integrated gene catalog (IGC) comprising 9,879,896 genes. The catalog includes close-to-complete sets of genes for most gut microbes, which are also of considerably higher quality than in previous catalogs. Analyses of a group of samples from Chinese and Danish individuals using the catalog revealed country-specific gut microbial signatures. This expanded catalog should facilitate quantitative characterization of metagenomic, metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic data from the gut microbiome to understand its variation across populations in human health and disease.
Fucoxanthin
(Fx), an allenic carotenoid from brown seaweeds or
diatoms, has been demonstrated to prevent obesity. Gut dysbiosis and
inflammation are two counted important incidence reasons of obesity
and related diseases. In this paper, a mouse model induced by high-fat
diet (HFD) was used to reveal the role of Fx in modulating intestinal
homeostasis and treating obesity. In addition, 16S rRNA sequencing
results inferred that Fx alleviated HFD-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis
by significantly inhibiting the growth of obesity-/inflammation-related
Lachnospiraceae and Erysipelotrichaceae while promoting the growth
of Lactobacillus/Lactococcus, Bifidobacterium, and some butyrate-producing
bacteria. The correlation analysis showed that some gut microbiota
taxa were strongly correlated with obesity phenotypes and the inflammation
level. In conclusion, dietary Fx has the potential to alleviate the
development of obesity and related symptoms through mediating the
composition of gut microbiota as demonstrated in mice. This study
provides scientific evidence for the potential effects of Fx on obesity
treatment.
BackgroundThe prognostic value of the status of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation measured by pyrosequencing assay (PSQ) among glioblastoma (GBM) patients was examined in meta-analysis.MethodsEligible studies that reported the association between the status of MGMT promoter methylation by PSQ and prognostic value of GBM patients from three electronic databases, like PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library were involved in meta-analysis. Using Stata 11.0, the summarized hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) and the progression-free survival (PFS) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) were calculated.ResultsEleven studies were included to evaluate the relationship between the status of MGMT promoter methylation and GBM patients’ survival. Overall, regardless of the cut-off value of methylation status of MGMT promoter by PSQ, methylated-positive patients were evidently associated with an improved HRs for OS (HRs = 0.50, 95 % CI = 0.35–0.66). For summary, progression-free survival (PFS) from four studies, the prognostic effect was also found (HRs = 0.56, 95 % CI = 0.32–0.80).ConclusionMethylation positivity of MGMT promoter by PSQ was related to an increased survival in GBM patients. Thus, the status of MGMT promoter methylation by PSQ might be used to be a prognostic biomarker, and GBM patients might have a vested interest in clinical application of standardized PSQ.
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