Gastrointestinal Tract

Selected alternative treatments for preventing or controlling gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in sheep under field conditions were evaluated using a systematic review-meta-analysis methodology. Forty-three publications reporting 51 studies (21 controlled studies (CS) and 30 challenge studies (ChS)) and 85 unique treatment comparisons were included in the review.

In China, acupuncture has been considered an effective method for treating gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction diseases for thousands of years. In fact, acupuncture has gained progressive acceptance from both practitioners and patients worldwide. However, the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms in treating GI dysfunction have not yet been established due to a lack of systematic and comprehensive review articles. Therefore, the aim of this review is to discuss the efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for GI dysfunction and the associated underlying mechanisms.

An emerging central concept in evolutionary biology suggests that symbiosis is a universal characteristic of living organisms that can help in understanding complex traits and phenotypes. During evolution, an integrative circuitry fundamental for survival has been established between commensal gut microbiota and host. On the basis of recent knowledge in worms, flies, and humans, an important role of the gut microbiota in aging and longevity is emerging.

The aging phenotype in humans has been thoroughly studied but a detailed metabolic profiling capable of shading light on the underpinning biological processes of longevity is still missing. Here using a combined metabonomics approach compromising holistic (1)H-NMR profiling and targeted MS approaches, we report for the first time the metabolic phenotype of longevity in a well characterized human aging cohort compromising mostly female centenarians, elderly, and young individuals.

Serotonin is a monoamine neurotransmitter, which is phylogenetically conserved in a wide range of species from nematodes to humans. In mammals, age-related changes in serotonin systems are known risk factors of age-related diseases, such as diabetes, faecal incontinence and cardiovascular diseases. A decline in serotonin function with aging would be consistent with observations of age-related changes in behaviours, such as sleep, sexual behaviour and mood all of which are linked to serotonergic function. Despite this little is known about serotonin in relation to aging.

The aging phenotype in humans has been thoroughly studied but a detailed metabolic profiling capable of shading light on the underpinning biological processes of longevity is still missing. Here using a combined metabonomics approach compromising holistic (1)H-NMR profiling and targeted MS approaches, we report for the first time the metabolic phenotype of longevity in a well characterized human aging cohort compromising mostly female centenarians, elderly, and young individuals.

Mycoplasms are known as pathogens of economic and medical interest in plants, animals and man. Here, we show a positive correlation between the presence of Mycoplasma-like symbionts in their isopod hosts and survivorship on low-quality food. Most isopods that survived feeding on a cellulose-based low-quality diet for 90 days harboured 'Candidatus Hepatoplasma' in their midgut glands, while those that died within 90 days mostly either harboured no or other bacterial symbionts.

Little was known about the development of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract microbiota, until recently, because of difficulties in obtaining sufficient sequence information from enough people or time points. Now, with decreased costs of DNA sequencing and improved bioinformatic tools, we can compare GI tract bacterial communities among individuals, of all ages from infancy to adulthood.

Historically, in the 1950s, the chemist Linus Pauling established a relationship between decreased longevity and obesity. At this time, with the advent of studies involving the mechanisms that modulate appetite control, some researchers observed that the hypothalamus is the "appetite centre" and that peripheral tissues have important roles in the modulation of gut inflammatory processes and levels of hormones that control food intake.

BACKGROUND: Studies with the nematode model Caenorhabditis elegans have identified conserved biochemical pathways that act to modulate life span. Life span can also be influenced by the composition of the intestinal microbiome, and C. elegans life span can be dramatically influenced by its diet of Escherichia coli. Although C. elegans is typically fed the standard OP50 strain of E. coli, nematodes fed E. coli strains rendered respiratory deficient, either due to a lack coenzyme Q or the absence of ATP synthase, show significant life span extension.