Analysis of microbiota in various biological and environmental samples under a variety of conditions has recently become more practical due to remarkable advances in next-generation sequencing. Changes leading to specific biological states including some of the more complex diseases can now be characterized with relative ease. It is known that gut microbiota is involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), mainly Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, exhibiting symptoms in the gastrointestinal tract. Recent studies also showed increased frequency of oral manifestations among IBD patients, indicating aberrations in the oral microbiota. Based on these observations, we analyzed the composition of salivary microbiota of 35 IBD patients by 454 pyrosequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and compared it with that of 24 healthy controls (HCs). The results showed that Bacteroidetes was significantly increased with a concurrent decrease in Proteobacteria in the salivary microbiota of IBD patients. The dominant genera, Streptococcus, Prevotella, Neisseria, Haemophilus, Veillonella, and Gemella, were found to largely contribute to dysbiosis (dysbacteriosis) observed in the salivary microbiota of IBD patients. Analysis of immunological biomarkers in the saliva of IBD patients showed elevated levels of many inflammatory cytokines and immunoglobulin A, and a lower lysozyme level. A strong correlation was shown between lysozyme and IL-1β levels and the relative abundance of Streptococcus, Prevotella, Haemophilus and Veillonella. Our data demonstrate that dysbiosis of salivary microbiota is associated with inflammatory responses in IBD patients, suggesting that it is possibly linked to dysbiosis of their gut microbiota.

Fucoidan enhanced intestinal epithelial barrier function by upregulating the expression of claudin-1. Thus, fucoidan may be an appropriate therapy for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.

The multiplex PCR assay that was used to analyze the stool samples in this study may serve as a non-invasive approach that can be used to exclude the possibility of CMV infection in patients with active UC who are treated with immunosuppressive therapy.

Crohn's disease (CD) involves chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract due to dysregulation of the host immune response to the gut microbiome. Even though the host-microbiome interactions are likely contributors to the development of CD, a few studies have detected genetic variants that change bacterial compositions and increase CD risk. We focus on one of the well-replicated susceptible genes, tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 15 (TNFSF15), and apply statistical analyses for personal profiles of genotypes and salivary microbiota collected from CD cases and controls in the Ryukyu Islands, southernmost islands of the Japanese archipelago. Our association test confirmed the susceptibility of TNFSF15 in the Ryukyu Islands. We found that the recessive model was supported to fit the observed genotype frequency of risk alleles slightly better than the additive model, defining the genetic effect on CD if a pair of the chromosomes in an individual consists of all risk alleles. The combined analysis of haplotypes and salivary microbiome from a small set of samples showed a significant association of the genetic effect with the increase of Prevotella, which led to a significant increase of CD risk. However, the genetic effect on CD disappeared if the abundance of Prevotella was low, suggesting the genetic contribution to CD is conditionally independent given a fixed amount of Prevotella. Although our statistical power is limited due to the small sample size, these results support an idea that the genetic susceptibility of TNFSF15 to CD may be confounded, in part, by the increase of Prevotella.

A 73-year-old man presented with odynophagia and retrosternal pain of 3 days' duration following a fish meal. Physical examination disclosed normal vital signs and a temperature of 37.2°C. Laboratory studies showed elevated white blood cells of 13 900/μL and C-reactive protein of 14.8 mg/dL. A computed tomography (CT) of the chest revealed a suspicious fish bone that measured 3 cm in length and had perforated through the esophageal wall (• " Fig. 1 and• " Fig. 2). Three-dimensional CT showed the bone (blue matter) penetrating close to the left common carotid artery (• " Fig. 3). Subsequent upper endoscopy revealed only a small submucosal nodule, which was located at 19 cm from the incisors, not an impacted fish bone in the upper esophagus (• " Fig. 4). A tiny white linear scar (arrow) was observed on its top, suggesting the site of perforation (• " Fig. 5). Surgical exploration was performed via a lateral neck incision, and the fish bone was successfully retrieved. The postoperative course was uneventful. Most ingested foreign bodies can pass through the gastrointestinal tract spontaneously. However, 10 % -20 % of such bodies require nonoperative intervention and 1 % need surgery [1]. Based on a largescale retrospective study including 316 cases of foreign bodies in the esophagus [2], the most common foreign bodies in the pharynx and the upper esophagus were fish bones. The risk of complications was increased with a longer duration of impaction (> 24 hours), bone type, and longer bone length (> 3 cm). The current case had all of these risk factors. As for endoscopic features of fish bones, most visible bodies can be retrieved by biopsy forceps [3]. Extremely rare cases with imbedded or perforating fish bones may present submucosal tumor-like nodules [4,5], as in this case. Endoscopy_UCTN_Code_CCL_1AB_2AC_3AHCompeting interests: None Upper endoscopy showed only a small submucosal nodule in the upper esophagus not an impacted fish bone. Fig. 1 An axial computed tomography of the chest disclosed a suspicious fish bone that measured 3 cm in length (black arrow) and had perforated the esophagus (white arrow). Cases and Techniques Library (CTL) E216Hokama Akira et al. A fish bone perforation of the esophagus … Endoscopy 2014; 46: E216-E217This document was downloaded for personal use only. Unauthorized distribution is strictly prohibited.