Gluten sensitivity can manifest with a spectrum of neurological dysfunction including ataxia, encephalopathy and neuropathy with or without associated coeliac disease (CD). Gluten sensitivity can also present with central nervous system (CNS) hyperexcitability and cortical myoclonus which is often accompanied with refractory CD. CNS hyperexcitability can also be associated with Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GAD) antibodies or much less commonly with Glycine Receptor Antibodies (GlyR-Abs) but the direct pathogenic roles of these antibodies remain debatable. We have previously reported a link between gluten sensitivity and anti-GAD associated ataxia which improves with the adoption of gluten-free diet. It is unclear if a similar link exists between gluten driven CNS hyperexcitability and the presence of GlyR-Abs. We report two cases of CD presenting with CNS hyperexcitability and associated GlyR-Abs. Apart from ataxia and cortical myoclonus, one patient had refractory CD and died from enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma. The other patient not only improved with strict gluten-free diet but also showed serological elimination of circulating GlyR-Abs. We conclude that there is an interaction between gluten sensitivity and GlyR-Abs-associated CNS hyperexcitability and in such patients gluten-free diet is an important therapeutic intervention. The elimination of GlyR-Abs by the adoption of gluten free diet suggests that these antibodies may represent an epiphenomenon rather than being directly implicated in the pathogenesis.

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) with genetic information secreted by cells play a crucial role in the cellular microenvironment. In this study, our purpose is to explore the characteristics of the small extracellular vesicles of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hADMSC-sEVs) and studied the role of hADMSC-sEVs in improving the survival rate of grafted fat.

In the present study, we used the transmission electron microscopy, nano-tracking analysis, nanoflow surface protein analysis, and zeta potential value to identify sEVs. SEVs’ trajectory was traced dynamically to verify whether hADMSC-sEVs can be internalized into human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro at different times. The angiogenic property of hADMSC-sEVs was observed by measuring the volume, weight, and histological analysis of the grafted fats in nude mouse models.

Our research showed that the hADMSC-sEVs were sEVs with double-layer membrane structure and the diameter of which is within 30-150 nm. hADMSC-sEVg the formation of new blood vessels, which is another promising progress in the field of regenerative medicine. We believe that hADMSC-sEVs will have a broad application prospect in the field of regenerative medicine in the future.

In addressing the threat of antimicrobial resistance, it is critical to understand the barriers to the uptake of strategies for the reduction of antimicrobial use (AMU) in the pig industry. In several EU countries, factors such as education level, habits and social pressures are recognised as affecting farmers’ decision-making process in relation to AMU. However, there is a lack of information on the Irish scenario. The aim of this study was to investigate pig farmers’ perspectives and their behaviour towards AMU to identify potential barriers to effectively reduce AMU in Irish pig production. We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 30 pig farmers, 5 pig veterinarians and 4 focus groups of pig farm personnel. We employed qualitative analyses to explore the objective of the study.

Qualitative analysis revealed six convergent themes as potential barriers perceptions about the need for AMU on farm, concept of animal welfare and associated management practices, legislation, culture, economicervention strategies.

Barriers and challenges were in line with those identified in other EU countries highlighting similarities in behavioural and attitudinal patterns among pig farmers. Overall, farmers appeared to be more likely to rely on previous experiences or to wait for an imposed change (e.g. legislation) instead of taking personal action. Thus, considerable behavioural and attitudinal changes are needed to adopt a more responsible AMU in Irish pig production and to develop effective intervention strategies.

Mangrove ecosystems are vulnerable due to the exotic Spartina alterniflora (S. alterniflora) invasion in China. However, little is known about mangrove sediment microbial community assembly processes and interactions under S. alterniflora invasion. Here, we investigated the assembly processes and co-occurrence networks of the archaeal and bacterial communities under S. alterniflora invasion along the coastlines of Fujian province, southeast China.

Assembly of overall archaeal and bacterial communities was driven predominantly by stochastic processes, and the relative role of stochasticity was stronger for bacteria than archaea. Co-occurrence network analyses showed that the network structure of bacteria was more complex than that of the archaea. selleckchem The keystone taxa often had low relative abundances (conditionally rare taxa), suggesting low abundance taxa may significantly contribute to network stability. Moreover, S. alterniflora invasion increased bacterial and archaeal drift process (part of stochastic processes), and improved archaeal network complexity and stability, but decreased the network complexity and stability of bacteria. This could be attributed to S. alterniflora invasion influenced microbial communities diversity and dispersal ability, as well as soil environmental conditions.

This study fills a gap in the community assembly and co-occurrence patterns of both archaea and bacteria in mangrove ecosystem under S. alterniflora invasion. Thereby provides new insights of the plant invasion on mangrove microbial biogeographic distribution and co-occurrence network patterns.

This study fills a gap in the community assembly and co-occurrence patterns of both archaea and bacteria in mangrove ecosystem under S. alterniflora invasion. Thereby provides new insights of the plant invasion on mangrove microbial biogeographic distribution and co-occurrence network patterns.