Gut bacteriome and mood disorders in women with PCOS.

STUDY QUESTION: How does the gut bacteriome differ based on mood disorders (MDs) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and how can the gut bacteriome contribute to the associations between these two conditions? SUMMARY ANSWER: Women with PCOS who also have MDs exhibited a distinct gut bacteriome with reduced alpha diversity and a significantly lower abundance of Butyricicoccus compared to women with PCOS but without MDs. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Women with PCOS have a 4- to 5-fold higher risk of having MDs compared to women without PCOS. The gut bacteriome has been suggested to influence the pathophysiology of both PCOS and MDs. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This population-based cohort study was derived from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966), which includes all women born in Northern Finland in 1966. Women with PCOS who donated a stool sample at age 46 years (n = 102) and two BMI-matched controls for each case (n = 205), who also responded properly to the MD criteria scales, were included. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: A total of 102 women with PCOS and 205 age- and BMI-matched women without PCOS were included. Based on the validated MD criteria, the subjects were categorized into MD or no-MD groups, resulting in the following subgroups: PCOS no-MD (n = 84), PCOS MD (n = 18), control no-MD (n = 180), and control MD (n = 25). Clinical characteristics were assessed at age 31 years and age 46 years, and stool samples were collected from the women at age 46 years, followed by the gut bacteriome analysis using 16 s rRNA sequencing. Alpha diversity was assessed using observed features and Shannon's index, with a focus on genera, and beta diversity was characterized using principal components analysis (PCA) with Bray-Curtis Dissimilarity at the genus level. Associations between the gut bacteriome and PCOS-related clinical features were explored by Spearman's correlation coefficient. A P-value for multiple testing was adjusted with the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) method. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: We observed changes in the gut bacteriome associated with MDs, irrespective of whether the women also had PCOS. Similarly, PCOS MD cases showed a lower alpha diversity (Observed feature, PCOS no-MD, median 272; PCOS MD, median 208, FDR = 0.01; Shannon, PCOS no-MD, median 5.95; PCOS MD, median 5.57, FDR = 0.01) but also a lower abundance of Butyricicoccus (log-fold changeAnalysis of Compositions of Microbiomes with Bias Correction (ANCOM-BC)=-0.90, FDRANCOM-BC=0.04) compared to PCOS no-MD cases. In contrast, in the controls, the gut bacteriome did not differ based on MDs. Furthermore, in the PCOS group, Sutterella showed positive correlations with PCOS-related clinical parameters linked to obesity (BMI, r2=0.31, FDR = 0.01; waist circumference, r2=0.29, FDR = 0.02), glucose metabolism (fasting glucose, r2=0.46, FDR < 0.001; fasting insulin, r2=0.24, FDR = 0.05), and gut barrier integrity (zonulin, r2=0.25, FDR = 0.03). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Although this was the first study to assess the link between the gut bacteriome and MDs in PCOS and included the largest PCOS dataset for the gut microbiome analysis, the number of subjects stratified by the presence of MDs was limited when contrasted with previous studies that focused on MDs in a non-selected population. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The main finding is that gut bacteriome is associated with MDs irrespective of the PCOS status, but PCOS may also modulate further the connection between the gut bacteriome and MDs. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): This research was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement (MATER, No. 813707), the Academy of Finland (project grants 315921, 321763, 336449), the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF21OC0070372), grant numbers PID2021-12728OB-100 (Endo-Map) and CNS2022-135999 (ROSY) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ERFD A Way of Making Europe. The study was also supported by EU QLG1-CT-2000-01643 (EUROBLCS) (E51560), NorFA (731, 20056, 30167), USA/NIH 2000 G DF682 (50945), the Estonian Research Council (PRG1076, PRG1414), EMBO Installation (3573), and Horizon 2020 Innovation Grant (ERIN, No. EU952516). The funders did not participate in any process of the study. We have no conflicts of interest to declare. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: N/A.

Identification of antibacterial peptides from endophytic microbiome.

Endophytes, microorganisms living inside plant tissues, are promising producers of lead compounds for the pharmaceutical industry. However, the majority of endophytes are unculturable and therefore inaccessible for functional studies. To evaluate genetic resources of endophytes, we analyzed the biodiversity of fungal microbiome of black crowberry (Empetrum nigrum L.) by next-generation sequencing and found that it consists mainly of unknown taxa. We then separated the host and the endophyte genomes and constructed a fosmid expression library from the endophytic DNA. This library was screened for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus. A unique antibacterial clone was selected for further analysis, and a gene En-AP1 was identified with no similarity to known sequences. The expressed, folded protein En-AP1 was not active against S. aureus, while tryptic digests exhibited antimicrobial activity. Seven out of twelve synthesized peptides, predicted antibacterial in silico, exhibited in vitro activity towards both S. aureus and Escherichia coli. We propose that the En-AP1 protein is degraded in the library host E. coli and antimicrobial fragments are released from the cell, explaining the in vitro antibacterial activity of the clone. This is the first report of a novel gene expressed in vitro derived from an endophytic microbiome, demonstrating the potential of finding novel genes and compounds from unculturable endophytes.

Synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial and single crystal X-ray crystallographic studies of some new sulfonyl, 4-chloro phenoxy benzene and dibenzoazepine substituted benzamides.

A new class of benzamide derivatives 3a(I-VI) and 3b(I-VI), bearing different bioactive moieties were synthesized and evaluated for their efficacy as antimicrobials in vitro. Compounds 3bVI, 3aII, 3aV, 3bIII, 3aVI, 3bII showed significant antibacterial activity and 3bIII, 3bII, 3aIV, 3bV, 3bVI, 3aI exhibit significant antifungal activity. The title compounds are characterized by spectral and elemental analysis. Compounds 2-methoxy-N-[4-(thiazol-2-yl-sulfamoyl)-phenyl]-benzamide 3aII and 2-(2-(2-ethoxybenzoylamino) phenethyl)-N-(2-ethoxybenzoyl) benzenamine 3bV are characterized by the single crystal X-ray studies. Compound 3aII crystallizes in monoclinic space group P2(1) and 3bV in triclinic space group P-1. Compounds 3aII and 3bV exhibit both inter and intra molecular hydrogen bonding.