Addressing Insulin Injection Technique: A Follow-up Study of Canadian Patients with Diabetes.

INTRODUCTION: Proper insulin injection technique is important for optimal glycaemic control, yet patients with diabetes often inject insulin incorrectly. Previous studies identified common errors in insulin injection in Canada, and this article seeks to evaluate the current insulin injection technique practices among patients and explore the effectiveness of feedback and education in improving their technique. METHODS: The study recruited 147 patients and 16 physicians across Canada to gather insights into current insulin injection practices and education gaps. Eligible patients were people living with diabetes who inject insulin using an insulin pen and pen needles. Eligible physicians, who were unsupported by diabetes educators, completed a practice assessment survey and selected 10 eligible patients to complete a baseline assessment survey. During the patient visit, if an error in the patient's technique was identified, a pop-up knowledge transfer (KT) prompt would appear, providing feedback and information on best practices at the point of care. Follow-up surveys were completed 1-3 months later. RESULTS: Physicians reported facing barriers to providing education and feedback, including lack of time and personnel, and lack of effective educational material. Patients demonstrated modest improvements in some injection technique domains at their follow-up visit, including injection force factors, time the needle was held in the skin, pen needle reuse, injection area size, and injection angle. The most common initial mistakes by patients were selecting an area smaller than recommended and not paying attention to the injection force. At the second visit, patients reduced an average of one error in their injection technique. CONCLUSION: Results showed that basic feedback by their physician during one visit could exert moderate improvements on patients' injection technique. Proper injection technique is critical for diabetes management, and incorporating targeted ongoing education and support can significantly enhance physician practices, ultimately reducing risks and improving outcomes.

The Two-Way Interaction between the Molecules That Cause Vaginal Malodour and Lactobacilli: An Opportunity for Probiotics.

Vaginal malodour is a sign of dysbiosis. The biogenic amines (BAs) cadaverine, putrescine and tyramine are known to be causative compounds. Recent reports suggest these compounds produced by pathogens might have a role beyond causing malodour; namely inhibiting the growth of lactobacilli bacteria that are crucial in the maintenance of vaginal homeostasis. The aim of this study was to identify whether certain lactobacilli strains could reduce BAs and to evaluate how Lactobacillus species were affected by these compounds. Using LC-MS and HPLC-UV, five Lactobacillus crispatus strains were identified as being capable of significantly reducing BAs from the media under in vitro conditions. Through 16S rRNA gene sequencing of vaginal swabs exposed to Bas, cadaverine was found to reduce the relative abundance of lactobacilli. When L. crispatus was exposed to media supplemented with BAs with an HCl adjusted lower pH, its growth was enhanced, demonstrating the relevance of the maintenance of an acidic vaginal environment. If strains are to be developed for probiotic application to alleviate bacterial vaginosis and other conditions affecting large numbers of women worldwide, their ability to adapt to Bas and regulate pH should be part of the experimentation.

Characterizing the breast cancer lipidome and its interaction with the tissue microbiota.

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer amongst women worldwide. We have previously shown that there is a breast microbiota which differs between women who have breast cancer and those who are disease-free. To better understand the local biochemical perturbations occurring with disease and the potential contribution of the breast microbiome, lipid profiling was performed on non-tumor breast tissue collected from 19 healthy women and 42 with breast cancer. Here we identified unique lipid signatures between the two groups with greater amounts of lysophosphatidylcholines and oxidized cholesteryl esters in the tissue from women with breast cancer and lower amounts of ceramides, diacylglycerols, phosphatidylcholines, and phosphatidylethanolamines. By integrating these lipid signatures with the breast bacterial profiles, we observed that Gammaproteobacteria and those from the class Bacillus, were negatively correlated with ceramides, lipids with antiproliferative properties. In the healthy tissues, diacylglyerols were positively associated with Acinetobacter, Lactococcus, Corynebacterium, Prevotella and Streptococcus. These bacterial groups were found to possess the genetic potential to synthesize these lipids. The cause-effect relationships of these observations and their contribution to disease patho-mechanisms warrants further investigation for a disease afflicting millions of women around the world.

Interstrain Variability of Human Vaginal Lactobacillus crispatus for Metabolism of Biogenic Amines and Antimicrobial Activity against Urogenital Pathogens.

Lactobacillus crispatus is the dominant species in the vagina of many women. With the potential for strains of this species to be used as a probiotic to help prevent and treat dysbiosis, we investigated isolates from vaginal swabs with Lactobacillus-dominated and a dysbiotic microbiota. A comparative genome analysis led to the identification of metabolic pathways for synthesis and degradation of three major biogenic amines in most strains. However, targeted metabolomic analysis of the production and degradation of biogenic amines showed that certain strains have either the ability to produce or to degrade these compounds. Notably, six strains produced cadaverine, one produced putrescine, and two produced tyramine. These biogenic amines are known to raise vaginal pH, cause malodour, and make the environment more favourable to vaginal pathogens. In vitro experiments confirmed that strains isolated from women with a dysbiotic vaginal microbiota have higher antimicrobial effects against the common urogenital pathogens Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecium. The results indicate that not all L. crispatus vaginal strains appear suitable for probiotic application and the basis for selection should not be only the overall composition of the vaginal microbiota of the host from which they came, but specific biochemical and genetic traits.

Probiotics in Cosmetic and Personal Care Products: Trends and Challenges.

Probiotics, defined as "live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host," are becoming increasingly popular and marketable. However, too many of the products currently labelled as probiotics fail to comply with the defining characteristics. In recent years, the cosmetic industry has increased the number of products classified as probiotics. While there are several potential applications for probiotics in personal care products, specifically for oral, skin, and intimate care, proper regulation of the labelling and marketing standards is still required to guarantee that consumers are indeed purchasing a probiotic product. This review explores the current market, regulatory aspects, and potential applications of probiotics in the personal care industry.

Young scientist perspective-microbiology trainees and social media: making science go viral during a pandemic.

This perspective looks at how social media has become even more critical since the pandemic and provides tips on how to market research outputs from a trainee viewpoint better.

Malodorous biogenic amines in Escherichia coli-caused urinary tract infections in women-a metabolomics approach.

Many women suffer from urinary tract infections (UTIs). In addition to pain and increased urgency to urinate, malodour is a significant issue for these patients. The specific factors causing this malodour are unclear, and there are no targeted treatment options to counteract it effectively. We used a metabolomics approach to compare the chemical composition of metabolites in the urine of women with E. coli UTIs (n = 15) and those who are healthy (n = 10). The biogenic amines trimethylamine and putrescine, which cause malodour in other urogenital conditions, were significantly increased in UTI patients. Conversely, the precursor of trimethylamine, trimethylamine N-oxide, was lower. To further confirm the source of the malodorous compounds, in vitro experiments were conducted by incubating strains of uropathogenic E. coli in sterilized urine from healthy women. All tested strains accumulated trimethylamine and putrescine. Notably, cadaverine was also produced by E. coli strains in vitro; however, it was not significantly different between both groups. We confirmed that the malodorous amines TMA and putrescine are found in higher concentrations in the urine of patients with an E.coli-caused UTI.

Forty-five-year evolution of probiotic therapy.

In the past forty-five years, the field of probiotics has grown from a handful of laboratory studies and clinical ideas into a legitimate research and translational entity conferring multiple benefits to humans around the world. This has been founded upon three principles: (i) the need for alterna-tives to drugs that either have sub-optimal efficacy or severe adverse effects; (ii) a growing interest in natural products and microbes, in particular cata-lyzed by studies showing the extent of microbes within humans and on our planet; and (iii) evidence on the genetics and metabolic properties of probi-otic strains, and clinical studies showing their effectiveness. While some man-ufacturers have sadly taken advantage of the market growth to sell supple-ments and foods they term probiotic, without the necessary human study evidence, there are more and more companies basing their formulations on science. Adherence to the definition of what constitutes a probiotic, conclu-sions based on tested products not generalizations of the whole field, and applications emanating from microbiome research identifying new strains that provide benefits, will make the next forty-five years significantly changed approaches to health management. Exciting applications will emerge for car-diovascular, urogenital, respiratory, brain, digestive and skin health, detoxifi-cation, as well as usage across the world's ecosystems.