GI highlights from the literature

Basic scienceBacteriophage in IBD

Duerkop BA, Kleiner M, Paez-Espino D, et al. Murine colitis reveals a disease-associated bacteriophage community. Nature Microbiology 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41564-018-0210-y. [Epub ahead of print 23 Jul 2018].

The majority of studies have focused on the bacterial component of the microbiota and its role in health and disease. In addition, the human gastrointestinal tract harbours a substantial compendium of viruses, with prokaryotic viruses, known as bacteriophages, numerically dominant. Bacteriophage numbers are known to increase in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but there is limited understanding of the consequences of this or the effects of inflammation on bacteriophage communities. This study applied a metagenomics approach to study bacteriophage communities in an experimental mouse model of T-cell-mediated colitis. The authors demonstrate that intestinal bacteriophage communities undergo compositional shifts in the murine model, similar to that seen in patients with IBD. human IBD patients An expansion of...

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