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Topic Review
Strategies for Facilitating Quick Antibacterial Responses
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a pressing public health concern, highlighting the need for alternative approaches to control bacterial infections. Promising approaches include the development of therapeutic vaccines and the utilization of innate immune activation techniques, which may prove useful in conjunction with antibiotics, as well as other antibacterial modalities. However, innate activation should be fast and self- or actively- contained to prevent detrimental consequences. TLR (Toll-like receptor) ligand adjuvants are effective at rapidly activating, within minutes to hours, the innate immune system by inducing cytokine production and other signaling molecules that bolster the host’s immune response. Neutrophils serve as the first line of defense against invading pathogens by capturing and destroying them through various mechanisms, such as phagocytosis, intracellular degradation, and the formation of NETs (Neutrophil Extracellular Traps). Nutritional immunity is another host defense mechanism that limits the availability of essential metals, such as iron, from invading bacterial pathogens. Thus, iron starvation has been proposed as a potential antibacterial strategy. 
  • 705
  • 14 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Metal-Based Drugs for Lung Microbiome in COPD
The concept of the lung microbiome has been radically altered with the understanding that the human lung hosts a complex ecosystem comprised of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, which actively participate in maintaining respiratory health by contributing to immune modulation, pathogen displacement, and metabolic contributions. The composition of the respiratory microbiome is transient and determined by continuous microbial immigration (through microaspiration, inhalation, and direct mucosal spread), elimination (by the immune system and mucociliary clearance), and replication. The notion of a healthy lung microbiome refers to a state in which a multitude of beneficial microorganisms coexist in harmony, promoting an immune environment that is neither too reactive nor too lax, providing robustness against invading pathogens, and supporting the crucial function of the lungs. 
  • 703
  • 17 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Gut Microbiota and Bipolar Disorder
The gut microbiota is the set of microorganisms that colonize the gastrointestinal tract of living creatures, establishing a bidirectional symbiotic relationship that is essential for maintaining homeostasis, for their growth and digestive processes.
  • 701
  • 18 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Cryptococcus neoformans/C. gattii Complex
The epidemiology of the Cryptococcus species complex (SC) is well known and briefly summarized below. Among these species, most clinical isolates are C. neoformans; C. gattii has been isolated in the U.S., mostly in the Pacific Northwest area.
  • 701
  • 29 May 2023
Topic Review
Fungal Extracellular Vesicles
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membranous vesicular organelles that perform a variety of biological functions including cell communication across different biological kingdoms. EVs of mammals and, to a lesser extent, bacteria have been deeply studied over the years, whereas investigations of fungal EVs are still in their infancy. Fungi, encompassing both yeast and filamentous forms, are increasingly recognized for their production of extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing a wealth of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. These EVs play pivotal roles in orchestrating fungal communities, bolstering pathogenicity, and mediating interactions with the environment. 
  • 700
  • 12 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Leptospirosis Infecting Bats
Leptospirosis is a globally distributed zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus Leptospira. This zoonotic disease affects humans, domestic animals, and wild animals. Colombia is considered an endemic country for leptospirosis, and Antioquia is the second department in Colombia, with the highest number of reported leptospirosis cases.
  • 697
  • 15 Mar 2023
Topic Review
The Urinary Microbiome
The recent discovery of the urinary microbiome bolstered the notion that microbes might play a role in bladder cancer. Although microbial involvement in bladder neoplastic transformation and metastatic progression, except schistosomiasis, has not been established, accumulating research suggests that dysbiosis of the urinary microbiome can produce a chronically inflammatory urothelial microenvironment and lead to bladder cancer.
  • 696
  • 30 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Probiotic-Based Sanitation in the Built Environment
The use of conventional chemical disinfectants is a common practice in built environments and has drastically increased in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While effective for instantaneous disinfection, the application of chemical disinfectants to indoor surfaces is associated with recontamination and is prone to select for antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. In contrast, probiotic-based sanitation (PBS) relies on the premise that probiotic bacteria, namely apathogenic Bacillus spp., when combined with eco-friendly detergents and applied to indoor surfaces can outcompete and exclude pathogens.
  • 691
  • 16 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen which causes many severe acute and chronic infections with high morbidity, and mortality rates as high as 40%. What makes P. aeruginosa a particularly challenging pathogen is its high intrinsic and acquired resistance to many of the available antibiotics. 
  • 690
  • 12 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Microbiota and Immune/Semiochemical System
The expression microbiota-gut-brain axis is well recognised nowadays (alongside the related terms microbiome-gut-brain axis and, occasionally, brain-gut-microbiota axis), however it is also clear that the action of the microbiome includes an immune system component. In turn, any concerning reaction from this system will necessarily involve the brain in fashioning a coordinated response, such as is seen in the case of traveller’s diarrhoea, for example. The interaction of the microbiota with the body is therefore bidirectional: with the gut wall itself and with the immune system, both of which link through to the brain. Any chemical communication with the microbiome is actually semiochemical, in the sense of the transfer of signalling information between the Kingdoms of Life, i.e. prokaryote to eukaryote and vice versa. Accordingly, the two terms “microbiota-gut-brain axis” and “immune/semiochemical system” should be considered alongside one another.
  • 689
  • 17 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Cyclomodulins and Some Microbial Metabolites in Bacterial Microecology
A number of bacteria that colonize the human body produce toxins and effectors that cause changes in the eukaryotic cell cycle—cyclomodulins and low-molecular-weight compounds such as butyrate, lactic acid, and secondary bile acids. Cyclomodulins and metabolites are necessary for bacteria as adaptation factors—which are influenced by direct selection—to the ecological niches of the host. In the process of establishing two-way communication with the macroorganism, these compounds cause limited damage to the host, despite their ability to disrupt key processes in eukaryotic cells, which can lead to pathological changes. Possible negative consequences of cyclomodulin and metabolite actions include their potential role in carcinogenesis, in particular, with the ability to cause DNA damage, increase genome instability, and interfere with cancer-associated regulatory pathways.
  • 689
  • 13 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Transkingdom Analysis of the Female Reproductive Tract
The female reproductive tract (FRT) microbiome plays a vital role in maintaining vaginal health. Viruses are key regulators of other microbial ecosystems, but little is known about how the FRT viruses (virome), particularly bacteriophages that comprise the phageome, impact FRT health and dysbiosis. 
  • 687
  • 30 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Approach for Molecular Diagnosis of Periprosthetic Joint Infections
Periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs) represent some of the most challenging complications whose incidence will consequently rise in proportion to surgeries. The manifestation and evaluation of physical findings such as acute local inflammation, fever, and wound drainage, may correlate to the presence of PJIs; indeed, these clinical manifestation are of great value in raising the suspicion of PJIs. 
  • 686
  • 23 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Human Bacterial Gut Colonization
Thorough understanding of the initial colonization process of human intestines is important to optimize the prevention of microbiota-associated diseases, and also to further improve the current microbial therapies. In recent years, therefore, colonization of the human gut has gained renewed interest.
  • 686
  • 28 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Gut and Reproductive Tract Microbiota
Pregnancy is characterized by maternal adaptations that are necessary to create a welcoming and hospitable environment for the fetus. Studies have highlighted how the microbiota modulates several networks in humans through complex molecular interactions and how dysbiosis (de-fined as quantitative and qualitative alterations of the microbiota communities) is related to human pathologies including gynecological diseases.
  • 685
  • 18 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Major Antimicrobial Peptides Expressed in Lung Airways
The vast surface area of the respiratory system acts as an initial site of contact for microbes and foreign particles. The whole respiratory epithelium is covered with a thin layer of the airway and alveolar secretions. Respiratory secretions contain host defense peptides (HDPs), such as defensins and cathelicidins, which are the best-studied antimicrobial components expressed in the respiratory tract. HDPs have an important role in the human body’s initial line of defense against pathogenic microbes. Epithelial and immunological cells produce HDPs in the surface fluids of the lungs, which act as endogenous antibiotics in the respiratory tract. The production and action of these antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are critical in the host’s defense against respiratory infections.
  • 685
  • 17 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Host Factors Affect the Gut Microbiome
Living organisms in nature exist as communities of various species, interacting closely with each other. Microbial organisms are also present as heterogeneous populations. Microbial organisms frequently appear as a dense mixture of various species to interact with each other in nature.
  • 684
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome–related Coronavirus
Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), or EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC/2012), is the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). It is a species of coronavirus which infects humans, bats, and camels. The infecting virus is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus which enters its host cell by binding to the DPP4 receptor. The species is a member of the genus Betacoronavirus and subgenus Merbecovirus. Initially called simply novel coronavirus or nCoV, it was first reported in June 2012 after genome sequencing of a virus isolated from sputum samples from a person who fell ill in a 2012 outbreak of a new flu-like respiratory illness. By July 2015, MERS-CoV cases had been reported in over 21 countries, in Europe, North America and Asia as well as the Middle East. MERS-CoV is one of several viruses identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a likely cause of a future epidemic. They list it for urgent research and development.
  • 681
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Diet, Microbes, and Metabolites
Many studies performed to date have implicated select microbes and dietary factors in a variety of cancers, yet the complexity of both these diseases and the relationship between these factors has limited the ability to translate findings into therapies and preventative guidelines.
  • 679
  • 05 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Ammonium Terminated Antibacterial Dendrimers
Tapping into our review recently published in Nanomaterials and available on line at https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/10/2022/htm, we have created two entry on Encyclopedia. The first one consists in a general overview concerning antibacterial cationic dendrimers, followed by an updated review about the PAMAM and PPI-based cationic dendrimers developed in the last decade (https://encyclopedia.pub/7167), which showed considerable antibacterial properties. In the second entry, we have provided an updated overview concerning the most studied class of antibacterial cationic dendrimers, i.e. the dendrimeric antimicrobial peptides (https://encyclopedia.pub/7223). This third entry collects the main case studies concerning the antibacterial cationic dendrimers having different internal scaffolds, but peripherally positively charged due to the presence of terminal ammonium groups.
  • 679
  • 19 Jan 2021
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