Thursday, February 2, 2023
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Medicine & Health

Gut microbes could help better predict risk of hospitalization for patients with cirrhosis

March 30, 2018
in Medicine & Health
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
IMAGE

Credit: VCU

The gut microbiome — a collection of bacteria and other microbes in the gut — could be a highly accurate predictor of hospitalizations for patients with cirrhosis, according to a recently published study led by a researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The paper, which published in the journal JCI Insight in March, determined that analysis of microbial DNA and microbial RNA could be used alongside current clinical methods to more accurately predict 90-day hospitalizations. Microbial DNA analysis identifies live and dead bacterial species, while microbial RNA analysis identifies the most metabolically active microbial species.

Cirrhosis is a leading cause of increased health expenditures due to hospitalizations and of mortality worldwide, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health.

"The hospitalizations that take place with cirrhosis are exorbitantly expensive," said the paper's lead author, Jasmohan Bajaj, M.D., who practices medicine and teaches at the VCU School of Medicine's Department of Internal Medicine and at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center. "Anything that helps us predict the likelihood of hospitalization is better than the status quo."

Bajaj and collaborators from George Mason University theorized that relative abundances of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria in the gut microbiome would be accurate predictors of hospitalization because of their link with inflammation, which often leads to infection.

"One of the major sources of inflammation in patients with cirrhosis or individuals who are obese is pathogenic bacteria, so, we began looking at gut microbes," Bajaj said. "People with cirrhosis who are hospitalized tend to get a very big inflammatory surge in their body because of infections and other organ failures."

The researchers conducted a trial of patients with cirrhosis at VCU Medical Center and McGuire VA Medical Center who were classified according to cirrhosis-related complications, such as renal dysfunction and infection. Both DNA and RNA analysis were found to be equally effective at predicting hospitalization when combined with the standard predictive blood test. They also were more effective than the standard predictive blood test score alone. Researchers also found that DNA and RNA analysis identified similar beneficial bacteria but differed in the pathogenic bacteria identified in all patient groups tested.

The team is preparing for a multicenter trial with a consortium of North American research centers that would further confirm the effectiveness of microbial analysis in cirrhosis outcome prediction.

###

Media Contact

Leah Small
[email protected]
804-828-8355
@vcunews

http://www.vcu.edu

Original Source

https://news.vcu.edu/article/Gut_microbes_could_help_clinicians_better_predict_the_risk_of http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.98019

Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • cotton microfiber

    Looking beyond microplastics, Oregon State researchers find that cotton and synthetic microfibers impact behavior and growth of aquatic organisms

    69 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 17
  • Seawater split to produce green hydrogen

    69 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 17
  • First solid scientific evidence that Vikings brought animals to Britain

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • Voice-activated system for hands-free, safer DNA handling

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Feather mite species related to the Laysan albatross discovered in Japan

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Purdue Ag-Celerator fund invests $100,000 in pathogen detection company

    64 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

New study shows snacking on mixed tree nuts may impact cardiovascular risk factors and increase serotonin

Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

Seawater split to produce green hydrogen

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 205 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In