The Role of Fatty Acid Metabolites in Vaginal Health and Disease: Application to Candidiasis

Although the vast majority of women encounters at least one vaginal infection during their life, the amount of microbiome-related research performed in this area lags behind compared to alternative niches such as the intestinal tract. As a result, effective means of diagnosis and treatment, especially of recurrent infections, are limited. The role of the metabolome in vaginal health is largely elusive. It has been shown that lactate produced by the numerous lactobacilli present promotes health by limiting the chance of infection. Short chain fatty acids (SCFA) have been mainly linked to dysbiosis, although the causality of this relationship is still under debate. In this review, we aim to bring together information on the role of the vaginal metabolome and microbiome in infections caused by Candida. Vulvovaginal candidiasis affects near to 70% of all women at least once in their life with a significant proportion of women suffering from the recurrent variant. We assess the role of fatty acid metabolites, mainly SCFA and lactate, in onset of infection and virulence of the fungal pathogen. In addition, we pinpoint where lack of research limits our understanding of the molecular processes involved and restricts the possibility of developing novel treatment strategies.

Nociception and Pain: New Roles for Exosomes

The interchange of information from one cell to another relies on the release of hundreds of different molecules including small peptides, amino acids, nucleotides, RNA, steroids, retinoids, or fatty acid metabolites. Many of them are released to the extracellular matrix as free molecules and others can be part of the cargo of cellular vesicles. Small extracellular vesicles (30–150 nm), also known as exosomes, are a known mechanism of cell-to-cell communication in the nervous system. Exosomes participate in the pathogenesis of several neurological conditions including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. However, exciting emerging evidence demonstrates that exosomes also regulate mechanisms of the sensory process including nociception. The goal of this review is to summarize the literature on exosome biogenesis, methods of small vesicle isolation and purification, and their role in nociception. We also provide insights on the potential applications of exosomes as pain biomarkers or as novel therapeutics.

Analysis of the Effect of Phototherapy on Intestinal Probiotics and Its Metabolism in Newborns With Jaundice

Background: Both long-term and short-term side effects of phototherapy are being increasingly recognized by clinicians. The purpose of this article is to study the changes of intestinal probiotics and their metabolic indexes in newborns with jaundice receiving phototherapy. Method: Intestinal flora and metabolic changes in newborns were studied through macrogene sequencing and metabonomics. Results: We found that Bifidobacterium is the main probiotic strain present in the newborn intestinal tract, along with a small amount of Lactobacillus. Both Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus decreased significantly (p<0.05) in neonatal intestinal flora after phototherapy for 24 hours and 48 hours. A correlation analysis between changed probiotics and intestinal short-chain fatty acid metabolites after phototherapy showed that acetic acid, butyric acid, caproic acid, and propionic acid decreased; these metabolites were significantly correlated with Bifidobacterium (p<0.05). After phototherapy, non-targeted metabolites also changed significantly (p<0.05) and were correlated with many probiotics (p<0.05). Significantly changed probiotics demonstrated a significant correlation with some intestinal non-targeted metabolites (p<0.05).Conclusion: Phototherapy can significantly affect the intestinal probiotic flora and its metabolic indicators in newborns with jaundice, which may contribute to phototherapy side effects. These findings also provide a theoretical basis for administering suitable probiotics to newborns with jaundice.

LimeMap: a comprehensive map of lipid mediator metabolic pathways

Lipid mediators are major factors in multiple biological functions and are strongly associated with disease. Recent lipidomics approaches have made it possible to analyze multiple metabolites and the associations of individual lipid mediators. Such systematic approaches have enabled us to identify key changes of biological relevance. Against this background, a knowledge-based pathway map of lipid mediators would be useful to visualize and understand the overall interactions of these factors. Here, we have built a precise map of lipid mediator metabolic pathways (LimeMap) to visualize the comprehensive profiles of lipid mediators that change dynamically in various disorders. We constructed the map by focusing on ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acid metabolites and their respective metabolic pathways, with manual curation of referenced information from public databases and relevant studies. Ultimately, LimeMap comprises 282 factors (222 mediators, and 60 enzymes, receptors, and ion channels) and 279 reactions derived from 102 related studies. Users will be able to modify the map and visualize measured data specific to their purposes using CellDesigner and VANTED software. We expect that LimeMap will contribute to elucidating the comprehensive functional relationships and pathways of lipid mediators.