Category: Archives

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Antibiotics before or after FMT raise C. diff relapse risk

A retrospective study of 124 patients treated with fecal microbiota transplantation for C. diff infection found that taking antibiotics for an unrelated reason, either before or after the transplant, roughly tripled the odds of the infection coming back. Overall, three in four patients improved within a week, but the findings point to a concrete step, limiting non essential antibiotics around the time of FMT, that could improve those odds further.

6 min read
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ADHD, Autism, Depression Gene Risk Shifts With Age

A Molecular Psychiatry analysis of the ALSPAC UK birth cohort finds that polygenic risk scores for ADHD, autism, and depression predict different peer, school/employment, and suicidality outcomes depending on whether you look in childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood. No gut-microbiome findings are involved.

7 min read
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New Theory Ties Gut Wall Damage to MS and Brain Disease

Researchers at Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, and Colorado State University propose a new framework in Annals of Neurology: the gut wall acts as both a site of immune priming in multiple sclerosis and a direct target of autoimmune attack in related neurological diseases like NMOSD and anti-DPPX encephalitis.

7 min read
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Gut Bacteria Toxin Kills Nerve Cells, Mouse Study Finds

A new Nature Microbiology study in mice finds that a toxin from enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) kills the gut nerve cells that control digestion, causing lasting dysmotility. A second bacterium makes the damage worse, and a Bifidobacterium-based probiotic reversed it in mice.

6 min read
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How Gut Bacteria May Shape Childhood Asthma Risk

A review in Frontiers in Immunology traces how an infant's gut bacteria can shape airway inflammation in childhood asthma, pulling together birth-cohort studies like PASTURE and CHILD with mouse mechanism studies.

7 min read
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Blueberries Alter Gut Genes Tied to Mood, Study Finds

A randomized, placebo-controlled pilot trial gave older adults with mild depression 2 cups of blueberries a day for 3 months. Mood scores didn't improve more than placebo, but gut-bacterial genes tied to GABA production shifted significantly, a preliminary but genuine gut-brain signal.

8 min read