Social demographics determinants for resistome and microbiome variation of a multiethnic community in Southern Malaysia.

The prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Southeast Asia is a significant concern, yet there is limited research on the gut resistome and its correlation with lifestyle and environmental factors in the region. This study aimed to profile the gut resistome of 200 individuals in Malaysia using shotgun metagenomic sequencing and investigate its association with questionnaire data comprising demographic and lifestyle variables. A total of 1038 antibiotic resistance genes from 26 classes were detected with a mean carriage rate of 1.74 ± 1.18 gene copies per cell per person. Correlation analysis identified 14 environmental factors, including hygiene habits, health parameters, and intestinal colonization, that were significantly associated with the resistome (adjusted multivariate PERMANOVA, p < 0.05). Notably, individuals with positive yeast cultures exhibited a reduced copy number of 15 antibiotic resistance genes. Network analysis highlighted Escherichia coli as a major resistome network hub, with a positive correlation to 36 antibiotic-resistance genes. Our findings suggest that E. coli may play a pivotal role in shaping the resistome dynamics in Segamat, Malaysia, and its abundance is strongly associated with the community's health and lifestyle habits. Furthermore, the presence of yeast appears to be associated with the suppression of antibiotic-resistance genes.

Identification of antibodies to heat shock proteins 90 kDa and 70 kDa in patients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES: Recent reports of antibodies to heat shock proteins 60kDa (HSP60) and HSP70 suggested that antibodies to the heat shock protein that plays a protective role against environmental stresses in a cell might be related to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, although the antibody to HSP90 had not yet been identified in patients with schizophrenia. In this study, we tried to elucidate the specific involvement of the autoimmunity to HSPs in the pathogenesis and development of schizophrenia. METHODS: Antibodies to HSP90 and HSP70 in 90 patients with schizophrenia and in 83 normal controls were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) coupled with the avidin-biotin system. In the patients, the association between antibody levels and clinical variables were sought. In addition, changes in antibody levels after treatment with antipsychotic medication were investigated. RESULTS: Eighteen (20.0%) of the 90 patients showed 'high' levels of antibody to HSP90 above a cutoff value, and 28 (31.1%) of those showed 'high' antibody levels to HSP70. On the other hand, only four (4.8%) of the normal controls showed 'high' HSP90 antibody levels, and one (1.2%) of these showed 'high' antibody level to HSP70. The distribution of elevated HSP90 antibody was significantly associated with that of elevated HSP70 antibody in the patients with schizophrenia. The patients with 'high' levels of antibody to HSP70 showed higher initial Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores and showed greater clinical improvement than those with 'low' levels, while the patients with 'high' levels of antibody to HSP90 did not. The frequency of patients with high levels of antibody to HSP70 was decreased significantly after 6 weeks of antipsychotic treatment, while the frequency of patients with high levels of antibody to HSP90 was not. CONCLUSIONS: Our results presented the presence of abnormal immune reactivity involving antibody to HSP90 and antibody to HSP70 in a subset of patients with schizophrenia. Differential patterns of distribution, of the association with clinical symptom severity, and of the changes of levels with treatment suggested the possibility that these two antibodies might be involved specifically in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Psychological stress may induce increased humoral and decreased cellular immunity.

Stress alters immune function and affects different immune cell populations in different ways. The authors examined whether psychological stress has different effects on the production of macrophage, T-helper 1(Th1) cell, and T-helper 2(Th2) cell-derived cytokines. Forty-two college students were recruited and their blood was sampled on the day they were to take a stressful academic examination and again 4 weeks after the examination. The stress from the academic examination significantly increased IL-1 beta, IL-6, and IL-10 and decreased IFN-gamma production. These findings suggest that examination stress may increase Th2 cell-mediated humoral immunity and macrophage activities and may decrease Th1 cell-mediated cellular immunity.