Microbiota at Multiple Body Sites during Pregnancy in a Rural Tanzanian Population and Effects of Moringa-Supplemented Probiotic Yogurt.

The nutritional status of pregnant women is vital for healthy outcomes and is a concern for a large proportion of the world's population. The role of the microbiota in pregnancy and nutrition is a promising new area of study with potential health ramifications. In many African countries, maternal and infant death and morbidity are associated with malnutrition. Here, we assess the influence of probiotic yogurt containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1, supplemented with Moringa plant as a source of micronutrients, on the health and oral, gut, vaginal, and milk microbiotas of 56 pregnant women in Tanzania. In an open-label study design, 26 subjects received yogurt daily, and 30 were untreated during the last two trimesters and for 1 month after birth. Samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and dietary recalls were recorded. Women initially categorized as nourished or undernourished consumed similar calories and macronutrients, which may explain why there was no difference in the microbiota at any body site. Consumption of yogurt increased the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and decreased Enterobacteriaceae in the newborn feces but had no effect on the mother's microbiota at any body site. The microbiota of the oral cavity and GI tract remained stable over pregnancy, but the vaginal microbiota showed a significant increase in diversity leading up to and after birth. In summary, daily micronutrient-supplemented probiotic yogurt provides a safe, affordable food for pregnant women in rural Tanzania, and the resultant improvement in the gut microbial profile of infants is worthy of further study.

Preclinical Studies on Mechanisms Underlying the Protective Effects of Propranolol in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity amongst trauma patients. Its treatment is focused on minimizing progression to secondary injury. Administration of propranolol for TBI maydecrease mortality and improve functional outcomes. However, it is our sense that its use has not been universally adopted due to low certainty evidence. The literature was reviewed to explore the mechanism of propranolol as a therapeutic intervention in TBI to guide future clinical investigations. Medline, Embase, and Scopus were searched for studies that investigated the effect of propranolol on TBI in animal models from inception until June 6, 2023. All routes of administration for propranolol were included and the following outcomes were evaluated: cognitive functions, physiological and immunological responses. Screening and data extraction were done independently and in duplicate. The risk of bias for each individual study was assessed using the SYCLE's risk of bias tool for animal studies. Three hundred twenty-three citations were identified and 14 studies met our eligibility criteria. The data suggests that propranolol may improve post-TBI cognitive and motor function by increasing cerebral perfusion, reducing neural injury, cell death, leukocyte mobilization and p-tau accumulation in animal models. Propranolol may also attenuate TBI-induced immunodeficiency and provide cardioprotective effects by mitigating damage to the myocardium caused by oxidative stress. This systematic review demonstrates that propranolol may be therapeutic in TBI by improving cognitive and motor function while regulating T lymphocyte response and levels of myocardial reactive oxygen species. Oral or intravenous injection of propranolol following TBI is associated with improved cerebral perfusion, reduced neuroinflammation, reduced immunodeficiency, and cardio-neuroprotection in preclinical studies.

Residents, Responsibility, and Error: How Residents Learn to Navigate the Intersection.

PURPOSE: As a competency of Canadian postgraduate education, residents are expected to be able to promptly disclose medical errors and assume responsibility for and take steps to remedy these errors. How residents, vulnerable through their inexperience and hierarchical team position, navigate the highly emotional event of medical error is underexplored. This study examined how residents experience medical error and learn to become responsible for patients who have faced a medical error. METHOD: Nineteen residents from a breadth of specialties and years of training at a large Canadian university residency program were recruited to participate in semistructured interviews between July 2021 and May 2022. The interviews probed their experience of caring for patients who had experienced a medical error. Data collection and analysis were conducted iteratively using a constructivist grounded theory method with themes identified through constant comparative analysis. RESULTS: Participants described their process of conceptualizing error that evolved throughout residency. Overall, the participants described a framework for how they experienced error and learned to care for both their patients and themselves following a medical error. They outlined their personal development of understanding error, how role modeling influenced their thinking about error, their recognition of the challenge of navigating a workplace environment full of opportunities for error, and how they sought emotional support in the aftermath. CONCLUSIONS: Teaching residents to avoid making errors is important, but it cannot replace the critical task of supporting them both clinically and emotionally when errors inevitably occur. A better understanding of how residents learn to manage and become responsible for medical error exposes the need for formal training as well as timely, explicit discussion and emotional support both during and after the event. As in clinical management, graded independence in error management is important and should not be avoided because of faculty discomfort.

Inclusion of fermented foods in food guides around the world.

Fermented foods have been a well-established part of the human diet for thousands of years, without much of an appreciation for, or an understanding of, their underlying microbial functionality, until recently. The use of many organisms derived from these foods, and their applications in probiotics, have further illustrated their impact on gastrointestinal wellbeing and diseases affecting other sites in the body. However, despite the many benefits of fermented foods, their recommended consumption has not been widely translated to global inclusion in food guides. Here, we present the case for such inclusion, and challenge health authorities around the world to consider advocating for the many benefits of these foods.