Genes and Gut Bacteria Involved in Luminal Butyrate Reduction Caused by Diet and Loperamide.

Unbalanced dietary habits and gut dysmotility are causative factors in metabolic and functional gut disorders, including obesity, diabetes, and constipation. Reduction in luminal butyrate synthesis is known to be associated with gut dysbioses, and studies have suggested that restoring butyrate formation in the colon may improve gut health. In contrast, shifts in different types of gut microbiota may inhibit luminal butyrate synthesis, requiring different treatments to restore colonic bacterial butyrate synthesis. We investigated the influence of high-fat diets (HFD) and low-fiber diets (LFD), and loperamide (LPM) administration, on key bacteria and genes involved in reduction of butyrate synthesis in mice. MiSeq-based microbiota analysis and HiSeq-based differential gene analysis indicated that different types of bacteria and genes were involved in butyrate metabolism in each treatment. Dietary modulation depleted butyrate kinase and phosphate butyryl transferase by decreasing members of the Bacteroidales and Parabacteroides. The HFD also depleted genes involved in succinate synthesis by decreasing Lactobacillus. The LFD and LPM treatments depleted genes involved in crotonoyl-CoA synthesis by decreasing Roseburia and Oscilllibacter. Taken together, our results suggest that different types of bacteria and genes were involved in gut dysbiosis, and that selected treatments may be needed depending on the cause of gut dysfunction.

Meconium aspiration syndrome in infants of HIV-positive women: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine whether maternal HIV infection in the current era is associated with an increased incidence of meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) in their infants. METHODS: Infants born to 149 HIV-positive women at our hospital over a 5-year period were compared with infants born to HIV-negative women in a retrospective case-control study. Charts of all 298 patients included in the study were reviewed for maternal and infant demographics, HIV treatment, vertical transmission and untoward events at delivery or during the hospital course. RESULTS: When compared with HIV-negative women, a greater proportion of HIV-positive women had meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF), 33% vs. 13%, P<0.001; and thick MSAF, 17% vs. 5%, P<0.001, respectively. Seven of 298 infants were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit for MAS; all seven were born to HIV-positive women (P=0.015). Although in utero exposure to illicit drugs is a reported risk factor for meconium staining of the amniotic fluid and such drug exposure was more common among our HIV-positive sample, controlling for this and other possible covariates did not greatly reduce the association of HIV status with meconium-related complications of delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Infants born to HIV-positive women had significantly more MSAF and MAS than infants born to non-infected women. It is unclear whether this association results from maternal HIV infection itself or from anti-retroviral therapy. Maternal and infant care providers should be prepared for this complication when attending to the deliveries of HIV-positive women.

Patient perspectives on tobacco use treatment in primary care.

INTRODUCTION: Evidence-based tobacco cessation interventions increase quit rates, yet most smokers do not use them. Every primary care visit offers the potential to discuss such options, but communication can be tricky for patients and provider alike. We explored smokers' personal interactions with health care providers to better understand what it is like to be a smoker in an increasingly smoke-free era and the resources needed to support quit attempts and to better define important patient-centered outcomes. METHODS: Three 90-minute focus groups, involving 33 patients from 3 primary care clinics, were conducted. Participants were current or recent (having quit within 6 months) smokers. Topics included tobacco use, quit attempts, and interactions with providers, followed by more pointed questions exploring actions patients want from providers and outcome measures that would be meaningful to patients. RESULTS: Four themes were identified through inductive coding techniques: 1) the experience of being a tobacco user (inconvenience, shame, isolation, risks, and benefits), 2) the medical encounter (expectations of providers, trust and respect, and positive, targeted messaging), 3) high-value actions (consistent dialogue, the addiction model, point-of-care nicotine patches, educational materials, carbon monoxide monitoring, and infrastructure), and 4) patient-centered outcomes. CONCLUSION: Engaged patient-centered smoking cessation counseling requires seeking the patient voice early in the process. Participants desired honest, consistent, and pro-active discussions and actions. Participants also suggested creative patient-centered outcome measures to consider in future research.

Chest pain in adolescent Japanese male mimicking acute coronary syndrome.

Acute chest pain with very elevated troponin level and abnormal EKG in adult population is considered sine qua non to acute coronary syndrome (ACS) unless proved otherwise. Similar presentation in adolescent population is seen less often but raises suspicion for ACS. Most common etiology for chest pain with cardiac enzyme elevation in adolescent population is usually viral myopericarditis. The adolescent population presenting with chest pain and elevated cardiac enzymes should be carefully evaluated for ACS and other etiologies including myocarditis, myopericarditis, pulmonary embolism, acute rheumatic fever, and trauma. We report one Japanese adolescent male with mycoplasma pneumoniae myocarditis who presented to the ER with chest pain, elevated cardiac enzymes, and abnormal EKG.

Chest pain in two athletic male adolescents mimicking myocardial infarction.

Acute chest pain with elevated troponin and CK-MB levels and focal ST elevation on electrocardiogram is considered to be myocardial infarction unless proven otherwise. The cardiac enzymes can be elevated in other etiologies of chest pain including myopericarditis, pulmonary embolism, acute rheumatic fever, and trauma. Therefore, patients presenting with chest pain and elevated cardiac enzymes should be carefully evaluated for other etiologies after ruling out acute coronary process. We report 2 male adolescents with myopericarditis who presented to the emergency department with chest pain and elevated cardiac enzymes.

An Unusual Case of Early Onset Persistent Escherichia coli Septicemia Associated with Endocarditis.

Escherichia coli infection is very common cause of early onset septicemia especially in very low-birth-weight newborns, but E. coli endocarditis has not been described in newborns. E. coli endocarditis, even in the adult population, is a rare and not well-characterized disease and is associated with high mortality. We report a very unusual presentation of persistent E. coli infection associated with endocarditis.