Digestive System Diseases Commons^™

Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis In Down Syndrome: Implications For Gastrointestinal And Neurological Health, Ashlyn Mcclelland, Jennifer Lecomte, Wendy Aita, Andrea Iannuzzelli

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common autosomal aneuploidy and has strong associations with increased gastrointestinal, neurological, and immune disorders. Emerging evidence suggests that gut microbiota dysbiosis may play a prominent role in disorders of gut-brain interaction, including constipation and irritable bowel syndrome affecting over half of individuals with DS. This review examines how gut microbiota alterations can contribute to chronic systemic inflammation and neurological manifestations in DS. Included articles were published between 2014 and 2025 and evaluated microbiota composition, inflammatory markers, and gastrointestinal or neurological outcomes in human or animal models of DS.

Across seven studies, characteristic microbiome shifts …

Pill Impaction Unmasking Eosinophilic Esophagitis And Acute Ulcerative Herpes Simplex Esophagitis In An Immunocompetent Patient, Fernando Lugo-Hernandez, Omar Jureyda, Bhavtosh Dedania

West Florida Division GME Research Day 2025

No abstract provided.

Microbial Remodeling Of Gut Tryptophan Metabolism And Indole-3-Lactate Production Regulate Epithelial Barrier Repair And Viral Suppression In Human And Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infections, Clarissa Santos Rocha, Katie L. Alexander, Carolina Herrera, Mariana G. Weber, Irina Grishina, Lauren A. Hirao, Dylan J. Kramer, Juan Arredondo, Abigail Mende, Katti R. Crakes, Anne N. Fenton, Maria L. Marco, David A. Mills, John C. Kappes, Lesley E. Smythies, Paul Ziprin, Sumathi Sankaran-Walters, Phillip D. Smith, Satya Dandekar

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

Gut inflammatory diseases cause microbial dysbiosis. Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV) infection disrupts intestinal integrity, subverts repair/renewal pathways, impairs mucosal immunity and propels microbial dysbiosis. However, microbial metabolic mechanisms driving repair mechanisms in virally inflamed gut are not well understood. We investigated the capability and mechanisms of gut microbes to restore epithelial barriers and mucosal immunity in virally inflamed gut by using a multipronged approach: an in vivo simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected nonhuman primate model of HIV/AIDS, ex vivo HIV-exposed human colorectal explants and primary human intestinal epithelial cells. SIV infection reprogrammed tryptophan (TRP) metabolism, increasing kynurenine catabolite levels that are …

Conservative Management Trial For Acute Perforated Diverticulitis, Armand Edalati, Astha Bhatt, Bita Crystal Behaeddin, Tanya Ramadoss, Sophia Hai, Elizabeth Geyer-Roberts

East Florida Division GME Research Day 2024

No abstract provided.

Gata6-As1 Regulates Intestinal Epithelial Mitochondrial Functions, And Its Reduced Expression Is Linked To Intestinal Inflammation And Less Favourable Disease Course In Ulcerative Colitis, Katya E Sosnovski, Tzipi Braun, Amnon Amir, Danielle Moshel, Marina Benshoshan, Kelli L Vandussen, Nina Levhar, Haya Abbas-Egbariya, Katia Beider, Rakefet Ben-Yishay, Syed Asad Ali, Sean R Moore, Subra Kugathasan, Ifat Abramovich, Efrat Glick Saar, Batya Weiss, Iris Barshack, Eyal Gottlieb, Tamar Geiger, Shomron Ben-Horin, Igor Ulitsky, Jeffrey S Hyams, Lee A Denson, Yael Haberman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Widespread dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs [lncRNAs] including a reduction in GATA6-AS1 was noted in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. We previously reported a prominent inhibition of epithelial mitochondrial functions in ulcerative colitis [UC]. However, the connection between reduction of GATA6-AS1 expression and attenuated epithelial mitochondrial functions was not defined.

METHODS: Mucosal transcriptomics was used to conform GATA6-AS1 reduction in several treatment-naïve independent human cohorts [n=673]. RNA pull-down followed by mass spectrometry was used to determine the GATA6-AS1 interactome. Metabolomics and mitochondrial respiration following GATA6-AS1 silencing in Caco-2 cells were used to elaborate on GATA6-AS1 functions.

RESULTS: GATA6-AS1 …

Cachexia, Chorea, And Pain In Chronic Nonbacterial Osteitis And Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Case Report, Ladan Agharokh, Katherine Mamola, Andrew G Yu, Annette L Medina, Bhaskar Gurram, Julie Fuller, Jason Y Park, Weina Chen, Veena Rajaram, Matthew R Hammer, Jeff L Waugh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease is an inflammatory disorder that primarily impacts the gastrointestinal tract, leading to malnutrition and chronic microscopic intestinal blood loss. Uncontrolled systemic inflammation can impact other parts of the body, known as extraintestinal manifestations. Up to 25% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease are reported to have these complications in their skin, joints, bones, eyes, liver, lung, and pancreas (Rogler et al. in Gastroenterology 161(4):1118-1132, 2021). Neurologic involvement as extraintestinal manifestations are less common, reported at 3-19%, including neuropathies, demyelination, and cerebrovascular events (Morís in World J Gastroenterol. 20(5):1228-1237, 2014).

CASE PRESENTATION: A 13-year-old Caucasian boy presented …

Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Proposed Mechanisms Of Pathophysiology And The Underlying Dysregulation Of Brain-Gut Interaction, Hailey Haddix

Senior Honors Theses

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disease of the gastrointestinal tract affecting approximately 11-21% of people worldwide (Xiao et al., 2021). This research focuses on the dysregulation of gut homeostasis in IBS and explains how the pathophysiology of the gut is controlled by the bidirectional brain-gut axis. The mechanisms of the brain-gut axis consist of neuro-immune cross talk, neuro-hormone cross talk, microbiome-gut signaling, and the HPA-axis. Each of these contribute to one or more of the possible phenotypes of gut pathophysiology, which could include intestinal permeability, visceral hypersensitivity, and motility disturbance (Xiao et al., 2021). Stress is also an important …

The Genetic Landscape And Clinical Implication Of Pediatric Moyamoya Angiopathy In An International Cohort, Yan-Hao Wei, Ren-Tang Bi, Yan-Mei Qiu, Chun-Lin Zhang, Jian-Zhuang Li, Ya-Nan Li, Bo Hu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Ischemic stroke is a highly complex systemic disease characterized by intricate interactions between the brain and gastrointestinal tract. While our current understanding of these interactions primarily stems from experimental models, their relevance to human stroke outcomes is of considerable interest. After stroke, bidirectional communication between the brain and gastrointestinal tract initiates changes in the gastrointestinal microenvironment. These changes involve the activation of gastrointestinal immunity, disruption of the gastrointestinal barrier, and alterations in gastrointestinal microbiota. Importantly, experimental evidence suggests that these alterations facilitate the migration of gastrointestinal immune cells and cytokines across the damaged blood-brain barrier, ultimately infiltrating the ischemic brain. …

Targeting Hyaluronic Acid Synthase-3 (Has3) For The Treatment Of Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma, Xiaohan Xu, Kyle L Poulsen, Lijuan Wu, Shan Liu, Tatsunori Miyata, Qiaoling Song, Qingda Wei, Chenyang Zhao, Chunhua Lin, Jinbo Yang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Non-alcohol-associated fatty liver/steatohepatitis (NAFL/NASH) has become the leading cause of liver disease worldwide. NASH, an advanced form of NAFL, can be progressive and more susceptible to developing cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, lifestyle interventions are the most essential and effective strategies for preventing and controlling NAFL without the development of fibrosis. While there are still limited appropriate drugs specifically to treat NAFL/NASH, growing progress is being seen in elucidating the pathogenesis and identifying therapeutic targets. In this review, we discussed recent developments in etiology and prospective therapeutic targets, as well as pharmacological candidates in pre/clinical trials and patents, with a …

Host Gut Resistome In Gulf War Chronic Multisymptom Illness Correlates With Persistent Inflammation, Dipro Bose, Somdatta Chatterjee, Ethan Older, Ratanesh Seth, Patricia Janulewicz, Punnag Saha, Ayan Mondal, Jeffrey M Carlson, Alan W Decho, Kimberly Sullivan, Nancy Klimas, Stephen Lasley, Jie Li, Saurabh Chatterjee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chronic multisymptom illness (CMI) affects a subsection of elderly and war Veterans and is associated with systemic inflammation. Here, using a mouse model of CMI and a group of Gulf War (GW) Veterans' with CMI we show the presence of an altered host resistome. Results show that antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are significantly altered in the CMI group in both mice and GW Veterans when compared to control. Fecal samples from GW Veterans with persistent CMI show a significant increase of resistance to a wide class of antibiotics and exhibited an array of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) distinct from normal …

Fungi: Friend Or Foe? A Mycobiome Evaluation In Children With Autism And Gastrointestinal Symptoms, Jane Alookaran, Yuying Liu, Thomas A Auchtung, Amirali Tahanan, Manouchehr Hessabi, Parisa Asgarisabet, Mohammad H Rahbar, Nicole Y Fatheree, Deborah A Pearson, Rosleen Mansour, Melissa R Van Arsdall, Fernando Navarro, J Marc Rhoads

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms often affect children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and GI symptoms have been associated with an abnormal fecal microbiome. There is limited evidence of Candida species being more prevalent in children with ASD. We enrolled 20 children with ASD and GI symptoms (ASD + GI), 10 children with ASD but no GI symptoms (ASD - GI), and 20 from typically developing (TD) children in this pilot study. Fecal mycobiome taxa were analyzed by Internal Transcribed Spacer sequencing. GI symptoms (GI Severity Index [GSI]), behavioral symptoms (Social Responsiveness Scale -2 [SRS-2]), inflammation and fungal immunity (fecal calprotectin and …

Ganglioside Alters Phospholipase Trafficking, Inhibits Nf-Κb Assembly, And Protects Tight Junction Integrity, John J. Miklavcic, Qun Li, Jordan Skolnick, Alan B. R. Thomson, Vera C. Mazurak, Michael Tom Clandinin

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Background and Aims: Dietary gangliosides are present in human milk and consumed in low amounts from organ meats. Clinical and animal studies indicate that dietary gangliosides attenuate signaling processes that are a hallmark of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Gangliosides decrease pro-inflammatory markers, improve intestinal permeability, and reduce symptoms characteristic in patients with IBD. The objective of this study was to examine mechanisms by which dietary gangliosides exert beneficial effects on intestinal health.

Methods: Studies were conducted in vitro using CaCo-2 intestinal epithelial cells. Gangliosides were extracted from milk powder and incubated with differentiated CaCo-2 cells after exposure to pro-inflammatory stimuli. …

A Role For Endothelial Tissue-Nonspecific Alkaline Phosphatase In Blood-Tissue Barrier Health And Disease, Allison L. Brichacek

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Sepsis is a disorder that targets the microcirculation with significant effects at blood-tissue barriers such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and gut-vascular barrier (GVB). Intestinal barrier dysfunction is thought to be one of the most important contributors to multi-organ dysfunction in sepsis. As a common site of infection, the impaired gut allows the dissemination of bacteria, which exacerbates the disease pathophysiology, and can lead to long-term morbidity and mortality. The mechanisms that influence altered barrier permeability in the GVB in sepsis and other inflammatory disorders are not well understood. Tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) enzyme activity, which has been shown to …

It's A Hard Nacht Life: Understanding How Nlrp12 Ticks, Abbigale Julia Brown

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The protein NOD- like receptor pyrin domain containing 12 (NLRP12) comes from a family of protein receptors with a wide range of functions including fertility as well as anti-inflammatory properties. The biological role of NLRP12 is poorly understood: research on the mechanisms behind its function and/or activation remains contradictory between different cell models. Current research suggests its involvement in a multi-protein complex named the inflammasome. The alternative hypothesis that has also been proposed is that NLRP12 is not a part of the inflammasome, rather it negatively regulates a transcription factor known as NF-��B down stream of Toll-like receptors. NLRP12 is …

A Scary Case Of Gastroenteritis, Kairavee D. Dave, Vivek Choksi, Sufian Sorathia, Rulz Cantave, Steven Kaplan

Gastroenterology

No abstract provided.

Novel Mechanisms And Biomarkers In Alcohol-Induced Organ Injury., Christine E. Dolin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background. Ethanol (EtOH) consumption is known to affect multiple organs; this is unsurprising, as the concentration of EtOH in the blood at relevant doses reaches the millimolar range. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to elucidate mechanisms of alcohol-induced organ injury, specifically the effects of alcohol on the hepatic extracellular matrix (ECM) proteome, the alcoholic hepatitis (AH) plasma peptidome, and the effects of alcohol on the renal cortex proteome and transcriptome. Methods. Mice were pair-fed ethanol-containing liquid diet chronically, and then some mice were administered lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Liver sections from these mice were processed in a series of increasingly …

Aging, Inflammation, And Gut Microbiota In Mice, Jody Demeo

Honors Projects

Inflammation and gut microbiota are two areas of study that can be linked to aging in the body. As a person ages, systemic inflammation tends to increase, and changes in microbiota in the gastrointestinal system occur as well.

Intimin Likely Used To Cause Disease During Competition With Commensal Escherichia Coli, Dominique J. Richburg

Senior Honors Theses

The intimin gene in the Locus of Enterocyte Effacement (LEE) island of pathogenicity is the primary attachment mechanism in Citrobacter rodentium. Intimin is a bacterial adhesin (protein) that attaches to obtain a niche/nutrient and thrive within the intestine. Intimin was deleted within C. rodentium to study colonization and pathogenesis in the murine intestine. Additionally, C. rodentium is an attaching/effacing pathogen, and a useful murine model in understanding Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection in humans. E. coli and C. rodentium cause gastroenteritis in humans and mice, respectively. C. rodentium is a murine pathogen commonly used to model gastrointestinal disease because …

Repression Of Esophageal Neoplasia And Inflammatory Signaling By Anti-Mir-31 Delivery In Vivo., Cristian Taccioli, Michela Garofalo, Hongping Chen, Yubao Jiang, Guidantonio Malagoli Tagliazucchi, Gianpiero Di Leva, Hansjuerg Alder, Paolo Fadda, Justin Middleton, Karl J. Smalley, Tommaso Selmi, Srivatsava Naidu, John L. Farber, Carlo M. Croce, Louise Fong

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Overexpression of microRNA-31 (miR-31) is implicated in the pathogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), a deadly disease associated with dietary zinc deficiency. Using a rat model that recapitulates features of human ESCC, the mechanism whereby Zn regulates miR-31 expression to promote ESCC is examined.

METHODS: To inhibit in vivo esophageal miR-31 overexpression in Zn-deficient rats (n = 12-20 per group), locked nucleic acid-modified anti-miR-31 oligonucleotides were administered over five weeks. miR-31 expression was determined by northern blotting, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and in situ hybridization. Physiological miR-31 targets were identified by microarray analysis and verified by luciferase reporter …

Microbiota, Oral Microbiome, And Pancreatic Cancer, Dominique S. Michaud, Jacques Izard

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Only 30% of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive one year post-diagnosis. Progress in understanding the causes of pancreatic cancer has been made, including solidifying the associations with obesity and diabetes, and a proportion of cases should be preventable through lifestyle modifications. Unfortunately, identifying reliable biomarkers of early pancreatic cancer has been extremely challenging, and no effective screening modality is currently available for this devastating form of cancer. Recent data suggest the microbiota may play a role in the disease process, but many questions remain. Future studies focusing on the human microbiome, both etiologically and as a marker of disease …