Category: Microbiology

What’s “Bugging” You? – Investigating the Potential Role of the GI Microbiome in the Association between Appendectomy and Glucose Intolerance

July 25, 2023 Maya Pimentel
Maya Pimentel Background: Approximately 462 million people live with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) worldwide.1 Although, once diagnosed, T2D is a lifelong, often progressive illness that requires regular medical evaluation, it is often a preventable condition. Therefore, attention has switched from a prophylactic response to a preventive approach in T2D…
Engineering Medicine Featured Abstracts Gastroenterology Microbiology

Multiple Sclerosis and the Epstein Barr Virus – Autoimmunity Through Molecular Mimicry of EBNA1 with GlialCAM

July 24, 2023 Duncan Salmon
Duncan Salmon Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease characterized by demyelination and oligodendrocyte damage within the Central Nervous System (CNS)1. Patients typically present with unilateral optic neuritis, internal ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and the production of intrathecal IgG known as oligoclonal bands2. These symptoms manifest as T2-FLAIR white matter hyperintensities…
Engineering Medicine Immunology Microbiology Neuroscience

Targeting of Key Proteins In Clostridium for Modern Antibiotics

July 3, 2023 Lynn Herron
Lynn Herron Background: Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive, spore-forming, anaerobic bacteria that is a major cause of nosocomial associated diarrhea and is difficult to treat due to its highly resistant spores. This disease primarily effects the elderly, especially those in hospital settings and often leads to dangerous levels of dehydration.…
Microbiology

Variance in Interferon-Gamma Levels Due to Genetic and Epigenetic Mutations Impacts Tuberculosis Susceptibility

June 22, 2023 Tucker Boyd
Tucker Boyd Background: Tuberculosis is a globally prevalent disease responsible for over 10 million infections each year caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and greatly impacts impoverished areas.1,2 Tuberculosis results from infection and ineffective clearance by alveolar macrophages in the respiratory tract and presents in patients with chronic coughing, dyspnea, and fever.3…
Featured Abstracts Microbiology

The Epigenetic DNA Methylation Changes Associated with Human Papillomavirus Uterine Cervical Cancer

June 22, 2023 Roxana Farokhnia
Roxana Farokhnia Background: Uterine cervical cancer (UCC) is the 4th most common cancer in women, and nearly all cases are caused by a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.1 Although prevention and early detection of UCC are available through vaccines and outpatient diagnostic tests, some cases of UCC are not detected until…
Cancer Featured Abstracts Microbiology

Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines, Trypsin-3, Tight Junctions, and Claudin-2 Play a Role in Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO): Ineffective Blocking May Lead to Recurrence of Disease

June 22, 2023 Roshini Thiagarajan
Roshini Thiagarajan Background: Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) is a disease that consists of excessive bacterial overgrowth within the small intestine and causes dysbiosis, or an imbalance in the gut microbiome. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is one of the most chronic GI disorders and presents with symptoms such as abdominal…
Featured Abstracts Microbiology