Publications by authors named "Natsumi Seki"

Background: A 63-year-old woman diagnosed with unresectable thymic carcinoma received modified ADOC therapy, followed by thoracic radiotherapy. Because she had a poor response to both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, lenvatinib was initiated at a dose of 24 mg once daily on day 1. The dose was reduced to 20 mg once daily on day 16.

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Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease characterised by repeated relapses and remissions and a high recurrence rate even after symptom resolution. The primary method for IBD diagnosis is endoscopy; however, this method is expensive, invasive, and cumbersome to use serially. Therefore, more convenient and non-invasive methods for IBD diagnosis are needed.

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  • Researchers analyzed serum metabolites from 83 patients to find early markers for predicting SARS-CoV-2 infection severity.
  • High levels of de-aminated amino acid catabolites, linked to nucleotide synthesis, were identified as potential early indicators of severe disease and correlated with viral load.
  • Animal studies showed that amino acid de-amination and nucleotide synthesis led to abnormal cell growth in the lungs, suggesting that early lung tissue changes could indicate future inflammation and disease progression.
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-Amino acids (-AAs) have various functions in mammals and microbes. -AAs are produced by gut microbiota and can act as potent bactericidal molecules. Thus, -AAs regulate the ecological niche of the intestine; however, the actual impacts of -AAs in the gut remain unknown.

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  • Microbiota-accessible carbohydrates (MACs), like l-arabinose and sucrose, can positively influence gut health and regulate body weight, but their specific effects are not fully understood.
  • Research shows that l-arabinose helps reduce obesity in mice when combined with sucrose, by promoting beneficial gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like acetate and propionate.
  • The study indicates that l-arabinose and sucrose work together to enhance SCFA production through different metabolic pathways in gut bacteria, suggesting the potential for MACs to be used for targeted gut health improvements.
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Background: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been widely performed for ulcerative colitis (UC) treatment at the clinical trial stage. Previous reports have used multiple FMT methods to enhance the colonization of healthy donor microbiota in the recipient's intestines. FMT following triple antibiotic therapy with amoxicillin, fosfomycin, and metronidazole (A-FMT) is not only effective but also requires only one FMT, which improves dysbiosis caused by reduced Bacteroidetes diversity in patients with UC.

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a multifactorial chronic metabolic disorder that affects approximately one billion people worldwide. Recent studies have evaluated whether targeting the gut microbiota can prevent MetS. This study aimed to assess the ability of dietary fiber to control MetS by modulating gut microbiota composition.

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  • Poorly-absorbed sugar alcohols like sorbitol can cause diarrhea in some people, but the reasons for this sensitivity are not fully understood.
  • Research indicates that certain gut bacteria, particularly from the Enterobacteriaceae family, can help break down sorbitol and reduce the risk of diarrhea.
  • Understanding which gut bacteria help degrade sugar alcohols could have important implications for microbiome research, the food industry, and public health.
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Infectious diarrhea is one of the most important health problems worldwide. Although nutritional status influences the clinical manifestation of various enteric pathogen infections, the effect of diet on enteric infectious diseases remains unclear. Using a fatal infectious diarrheal model, we found that an amino acid-based diet (AD) protected susceptible mice infected with the enteric pathogen .

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Increases in adhesive and invasive commensal bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, and subsequent disruption of the epithelial barrier is implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the protective systems against such barrier disruption are not fully understood. Here, we show that secretion of luminal glycoprotein 2 (GP2) from pancreatic acinar cells is induced in a TNF-dependent manner in mice with chemically induced colitis.

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Methylmercury (MeHg), an environmental electrophile, binds covalently to the cysteine residues of proteins in organs, altering protein function and causing cytotoxicity. MeHg has also been shown to alter the composition of gut microbes. The gut microbiota is a complex community, the disturbance of which has been linked to the development of certain diseases.

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