Increasing incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease (CD) in developed nations is associated with changes to the environment, such as decreased prevalence of helminth colonization and alterations to the gut microbiota. We find that helminth infection protects mice deficient in the CD susceptibility gene Nod2 from intestinal abnormalities by inhibiting colonization with an inflammatory Bacteroides species. Colonization resistance to Bacteroides was dependent on type-2 immunity, which promoted the establishment of a protective microbiota enriched in Clostridiales. Additionally, we show that individuals from helminth-endemic regions harbor a similar protective microbiota, and that deworming treatment reduced Clostridiales and increased Bacteroidales. These results support a model of the hygiene hypothesis whereby certain individuals are genetically susceptible to the consequences of a changing microbial environment.

BackgroundThe morphotaxonomy of Rhipicephalus microplus complex has been challenged in the last few years and prompted many biologists to adopt a DNA-based method for distinguishing the members of this group. In the present study, we used a mitochondrial DNA analysis to characterise the genetic assemblages, population structure and dispersal pattern of R. microplus from Southeast Asia, the region where the species originated.MethodsA phylogeographic analysis inferred from the 16S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) genes was performed with five populations of R. microplus collected from cattle in Malaysia. Malaysian R. microplus sequences were compared with existing COI and 16S rRNA haplotypes reported globally in NCBI GenBank.ResultsA total of seven and 12 unique haplotypes were recovered by the 16S rRNA and COI genes, respectively. The concatenated sequences of both 16S rRNA and COI revealed 18 haplotypes. Haplotype network and phylogenetic analyses based on COI+16S rRNA sequences revealed four genetically divergent groups among Malaysian R. microplus. The significantly low genetic differentiation and high gene flow among Malaysian R. microplus populations supports the occurrence of genetic admixture. In a broader context, the 16S rRNA phylogenetic tree assigned all isolates of Malaysian R. microplus into the previously described African/the Americas assemblage. However, the COI phylogenetic tree provides higher resolution of R. microplus with the identification of three main assemblages: clade A sensu Burger et al. (2014) comprises ticks from Southeast Asia, the Americas and China; clade B sensu Burger et al. (2014) is restricted to ticks that originated from China; and clade C sensu Low et al. (2015) is a new genetic assemblage discovered in this study comprising ticks from India and Malaysia.ConclusionsWe conclude that the R. microplus complex consisting of at least five taxa: R. australis, R. annulatus, R. microplus clade A sensu Burger et al. (2014), R. microplus clade B sensu Burger et al. (2014) and the new taxon, R. microplus clade C sensu Low et al. (2015). The use of COI as the standard genetic marker in discerning the genetic assemblages of R. microplus from a broad range of biogeographical regions is proposed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0956-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Dengue has become a global public health problem. Despite reactive efforts by the government in Malaysia, the dengue cases are on the increase. Adequate knowledge, positive attitude and correct practice for dengue control are essential to stamp out the disease. Hence, this study aims to assess the factors associated with dengue knowledge, attitude and practice (KAp), as well as the association with dengue igM and igG seropositivity. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in a closed, dengue endemic area with multi-storey dwellings. Five hundred individuals (aged 18 years and above) were approached for pre-tested KAp and seroprevalences assessment. the study showed only half of the total participants have good knowledge (50.7%) but they had insufficient knowledge about dengue during pregnancy. 53.2% of people had poor attitude and 50.2% reported poor practice for dengue control. Out of 85 respondents who agreed to participate in the dengue seroprevalence study, 74.1% (n = 63) were positive for dengue IgG and 7.1% (n = 6) were positive for dengue IgM. Among all sociodemographic variable, race is the only independent predicator for all KAp levels (p < 0.05). In conclusion, proactive and sustainable efforts are needed to bring a behavioural change among communities in order to fight dengue outbreaks in endemic areas. Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease caused by a flavivirus. There are four distinct serotypes of dengue virus, namely DEN-1, 2, 3 and 4. Female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes are the primary and secondary vectors in Malaysia, respectively. Evidently, dengue is the most rapidly spreading arboviral disease in the world. The Global Burden of Disease reported that dengue incidence has multiplied to six-folds from 1990 to 2013, with Southeast Asia region contributing 52% of the disease burden 1. World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 50 million to 100 million cases occur annually 2 .The disease is currently endemic in more than 100 countries, with SouthEast Asia being among the worst affected region. Dengue fever was established in Malaysia ever since the first reported case of dengue in 1902. From then on, the numbers of cases continued to rise despite numerous initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Health to curb the disease 3,4. According to WHO, the recent cumulative case count in Malaysia from 1 Jan to 2 Mac 2019 was 157% higher than that of the same period in 2018 5. In addition, a total of 79,151 dengue cases have been reported until end of July 2019 nationwide, with Selangor state contributing more than 50% of the cases (n = 40,849, 51.6%) 6. Vector control and surveillance is still the mainstay of dengue prevention strategies since there is no specific treatment for disease and vaccination remains a non-viable option 7. Local programs like Communications for Behavorial Changes (COMBI) in Malaysia have proved their potential effect in reducing dengue morbidity 8 but it requires understanding from community as well 9. Besides, vector control measures ...

BackgroundAdult survivors of childhood cancers such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have health problems that persist or develop years after cessation of therapy. These late effects include chronic inflammation-related comorbidities such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, but the underlying cause is poorly understood.ResultsWe compared the anal microbiota composition of adult survivors of childhood ALL (N = 73) with healthy control subjects (N = 61). We identified an altered community with reduced microbial diversity in cancer survivors, who also exhibit signs of immune dysregulation including increased T cell activation and chronic inflammation. The bacterial community among cancer survivors was enriched for Actinobacteria (e.g. genus Corynebacterium) and depleted of Faecalibacterium, correlating with plasma concentrations of IL-6 and CRP and HLA-DR+CD4+ and HLA-DR+CD8+ T cells, which are established markers of inflammation and immune activation.ConclusionsWe demonstrated a relationship between microbial dysbiosis and immune dysregulation in adult ALL survivors. These observations suggest that interventions that could restore microbial diversity may ameliorate chronic inflammation and, consequently, development of late effects of childhood cancer survivors.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40168-017-0250-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

We explored the gut microbiota profile among HIV-infected individuals with diverse immune recovery profiles following long-term suppressive ART and investigated the relationship between the altered bacteria with markers of immune dysfunction. The microbiota profile of rectal swabs from 26 HIV-infected individuals and 20 HIV-uninfected controls were examined. Patients were classified as suboptimal responders, sIR (n = 10, CD4 T-cell <350 cells/ul) and optimal responders, oIR (n = 16, CD4 T-cell >500 cells/ul) after a minimum of 2 years on suppressive ART. Canonical correlation analysis(CCA) and multiple regression modelling were used to explore the association between fecal bacterial taxa abundance and immunological profiles in optimal and suboptimal responders. We found Fusobacterium was significantly enriched among the HIV-infected and the sIR group. CCA results showed that Fusobacterium abundance was negatively correlated with CD4 T-cell counts, but positively correlated with CD4 T-cell activation and CD4 Tregs. Multiple linear regression analysis adjusted for age, baseline CD4 T-cell count, antibiotic exposure and MSM status indicated that higher Fusobacterium relative abundance was independently associated with poorer CD4 T-cell recovery following ART. Enrichment of Fusobacterium was associated with reduced immune recovery and persistent immune dysfunction following ART. Modulating the abundance of this bacterial taxa in the gut may be a viable intervention to improve immune reconstitution in our setting.