Each week linked up for your reading pleasure. This week, it’s all about erm.. well.. everything. We learn that it’s really complicated that fat and eczema is not solved just yet. IBS might, might be related (again) to gut microbes and that it’s really expensive to learn about diarrhoea. Bogs are also happily full of bog bugs… and sink bugs and… hand bu… What a relief! 

Here we go then…

A veeeeery complicated dissection of a relationship between gut microbes, immunity and fat (paywalled) at Nature Medicine.

A clinical Study in infants and atopic dermatitis: no effect of prebiotics in infant formula.

and while we are there… no effect of two probiotic strains in eczema in another clinical study.

IBS: Differences in gut microbes uncovered in IBS via two studies (pay-walled), discussed in an editorial and picked over here by yours truly.

and while we are there… IBS discussed again in a review.

Prebiotics and Probiotics for skin (paywall) and it looks like an article might appear on skin/microbiome/cosmetics via @kellydobos (here’s the tweet, and I’ll update when/if it appears… could be interesting).

Bog bugs: Survey of public toilets confirms gut bugs associated with toilets and skin microbes associated with the sink. Well, at least we now have that nugget confirmed.

Clinical perspectives on acute diarrhoea. However, how the publishers can possibly justify $86 for 24 hours access is beyond belief – expect a response @ maxbingham.com).

Dodgy probiotic claims targeted at IBD patients discussed. But again, buyer beware, I hope you have some sort of access… a bargain at $42.

And finally… rocking through the guts of, well everything and more, we are introduced to the concept of ‘Microbial Resource Management‘. If there is anything in this, you can expect a comment next week.

Odd ‘omic’ word competition (which I might start running weekly) – new for this week… Probiogenomics…

Have a good weekend!

Each week, linked up for your reading pleasure. Actually, this week we cover the last 2 weeks as I had a short week off. Topics include the usual mix of health related stories, microbes doing Twitter, bumble bees eating poo and surveys of gut microbes of the world’s largest rodent and the Panda (just in case you’ve ever wondered).

Microbe implicated in colorectal cancer: Checking this out here via this… and now posted here.

“Probiotics effective in combating antibiotic-associated diarrhea.” – 4 studies discussed at ACG Annual Conference. Would be great if they could publish the papers.

Immune benefits (well, increases in antibodies but nothing else) of two probiotic strains in new clinical study.

Reviewing the evidence: prebiotics, probiotics and obesity.

Social networking for microbes, raising concerns about antibiotic resistance. Read all about it with another great article from Ed Yong.

Interesting discovery! The humble bumble bee eats poo for protection against infections (including the one that’s causing population collapse).

The Capybara (Source: Wikipedia CC BY 3.0)

Just in case you’ve ever wondered: gut microbes surveyed in the world’s largest rodent, the Capybara (see right).

IBS: Significant differences again reported in gut microbes. Still wondering about causes and consequences here.

Melting permafrost, methane and climate change, we now at least know that there are some microbes present that can consume methane.

Microbes and mood disorders. Review suggests gut microbes and immune function play a role.

Interesting link between gut microbes and type 1 diabetes revealed by some super advanced sequencing.

And finally, I’ve always wanted to know… Panda’s survive on bamboo because of special mix of gut microbes.

In the first of an ongoing series, Last week in Links will bring together links to research and other content that are interesting from the perspective of microbes and us. It might simply be content that I have not had a chance to cover in more detail. It might also be content that is interesting but that I have not (yet) weaved into a full article. It might also be content that is locked up behind a paywall and that I have not got my hands on yet. I hope you find them useful.

Research

Should we worry? large RCT shows prebiotics in infant formula do not affect fever episodes… in infants.

Woh! This study and this one suggest viruses might need a helping hand from gut microbes to wreak havoc.

Clever… Multiple Sclerosis is blamed on intestinal microbes (the lot) but don’t worry, it’s in mice genetically pre-disposed to developing MS when they have microbes in their gut. Interesting!

Gum disease only develops when normal mouth bacteria are present, suggesting they could be altered to prevent it. It is a long way off.

One to watch: getting around antibiotic resistance by disabling the needle.

Believe it when it’s published: More cranberry anti-infection claims.

… Oh? published today but locked up in a journal that does not even publish its table of contents (tick, tick, tick).

Cause or consequence? Type 1 diabetes, allergies in infants and altered gut microbiota composition.

Don’t read this having your lunch: Faecal transplantation effective in getting rid of C.difficile infection in 87% of cases (although the report might be positively biased).

Blame the weather: Infection rates climb in summer months; but what about climate change asks Maryn Mckenna?

A lead worth watching: Keeping bacteria at a small distance (50μm) in small intestine via antibacterial proteins.