Interrelationship between altered metabolites and the gut microbiota in people living with HIV with different immune responses to antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) effectively reduces opportunistic infections and mortality in people living with HIV (PLWH); however, some patients exhibit poor immune recovery. This study explores the connections among immune responses, metabolites, and the gut microbiota in PLWH with differing reactions to ART.

Methods: We analyzed the gut microbiota composition, metabolites, and immune markers in 38 PLWH who showed an immunological response (IR) and 32 who did not (INR), as classified according to CD4+ T-cell levels after 24 months of ART.

Response of spatio-temporal changes in sediment phosphorus fractions to vegetation restoration in the degraded river-lake ecotone.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element in the ecosystem and the cause of the eutrophication of rivers and lakes. The river-lake ecotone is the ecological buffer zone between rivers and lakes, which can transfer energy and material between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Vegetation restoration of degraded river-lake ecotone can improve the interception capacity of P pollution.

Snail communities increase submerged macrophyte growth by grazing epiphytic algae and phytoplankton in a mesocosm experiment.

The relationships between producers (e.g., macrophytes, phytoplankton and epiphytic algae) and snails play an important role in maintaining the function and stability of shallow ecosystems.