Background. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the microbial composition of the gut and its possible association with the Mediterranean diet (MD) after adjusting for demographic and anthropometric characteristics in a sample of healthy young Italian adults. Methods. Gut microbiota, demographic information, and data on adherence to MD and physical activity (PA) habits were collected in a sample of 140 university students (48.6% males, mean age 22.5 ± 2.9) with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 22.4 ± 2.8 kg/m2 (15.2–33.8) and a mean PA level of 3006.2 ± 2973.6 metabolic equivalent (MET)-minutes/week (148–21,090). Results. A high prevalence of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes was found in all the fecal samples. Significant dissimilarities in the microbiota composition were found on the basis of MD adherence and PA levels (p = 0.001). At the genus level, Streptococcus and Dorea were highly abundant in overweight/obese individuals, Ruminococcus and Oscillospira in participants with lower adherence to MD, and Lachnobacterium in subjects with low levels of PA (p = 0.001). A significantly higher abundance of Paraprevotella was shown by individuals with lower BMI, lower MD adherence, and lower PA levels (p = 0.001). Conclusions. This study contributes to the characterization of the gut microbiome of healthy humans. The findings suggest the role of diet and PA in determining gut microbiota variability.

The intestinal microbiota is a crucial regulator of human health and disease because of its interactions with the immune system. Tobacco smoke also influences the human ecosystem with implications for disease development. This systematic review aims to analyze the available evidence, until June 2021, on the relationship between traditional and/or electronic cigarette smoking and intestinal microbiota in healthy human adults. Of the 2645 articles published in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, 13 were included in the review. Despite differences in design, quality, and participants’ characteristics, most of the studies reported a reduction in bacterial species diversity, and decreased variability indices in smokers’ fecal samples. At the phylum or genus level, the results are very mixed on bacterial abundance both in smokers and non-smokers with two exceptions. Prevotella spp. appears significantly increased in smokers and former smokers but not in electronic cigarette users, while Proteobacteria showed a progressive increase in Desulfovibrio with the number of pack-years of cigarette (p = 0.001) and an increase in Alphaproteobacteria (p = 0.04) in current versus never smokers. This attempt to systematically characterize the effects of tobacco smoking on the composition of gut microbiota gives new perspectives on future research in smoking cessation and on a new possible use of probiotics to contrast smoke-related dysbiosis.

Background The composition of gut microbiota, and in particular the intestinal abundance of the two main bacterial phyla of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, are associated with human health and diseases and may be conditioned by host and environmental factors such as age, gender and diet. The role of Physical Activity (PA) in determining gut microbiota composition has not been yet completely clarified. A cross-sectional study involving undergraduates from two Italian cities is ongoing to explore this relationship. Methods Students were invited to provide a fecal sample and to complete the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) in order to define their habitual PA level (inactive, minimally active, health enhancing physical activity -HEPA- active). Demographic and anthropometric information were also collected. DNA from fecal samples was analyzed through the 16S amplicon sequencing. Microbial composition and variability of the samples were evaluated on the light of participants' PA levels. Results A total of 153 students (47.7% males, mean age 22.4±2.9, mean BMI 22.3±2.7) participated to the study so far. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the main represented phyla. An increase in Firmicutes (58.3±16 to 61.4±13.3, p = 0.68) and a reduction in Bacteroidetes (32.6±14.8 to 30.3±11.4, p = 0.51) have been registered with the increase of PA level. A higher variability (expressed as Shannon α-index) has been detected in minimally active (3.39±0.03) and HEPA-active (3.41±0) individuals respect to inactive subjects (3.35±0.07) (p = 0.05). Conclusions Even if they are not significant, these preliminary results suggest a relationship between PA levels and gut microbiota composition. An active lifestyle seems to be associated with a greater microbial diversity in the gut. Further researches are needed to explain these findings. Key messages Physical activity seems to be associated with gut microbiota composition. A greater variability in gut microbiota was found in active people.

Articles reporting research may be full length or brief reports. These should report original research findings within the journal's scope. Papers should generally be a maximum of 4000 words in length, excluding tables, references, and abstract and key points of the article, whilst it is recommended that the number of references should not exceed 30. Review PapersComprehensive, authoritative, reviews within the journal's scope. There are two types of review papers:-systematic review papers: respond to a specific research question, accrue from criterion-based selection of sources, include a quantitative synthesis and a statistical method (meta-analysis), and should adhere to PRISMA guidelines. Guidelines used for abstracting data and assessing data quality and validity should be noted in methods section. -narrative review papers: the research question may be broad, and the scope of this review is to discuss a specific topic and keep the readers up-to-date about it. This type of review does not necessarily include a methodological approach and its synthesis is usually qualitative. Narrative reviews should include in a developments section, with details regarding data sources used, keywords applied, time restrictions and study types selected. Developments should be based on actual review articles. All review papers should be generally less than 6000 words, excluding abstract, tables, figures and references. References should not exceed 50. Conclusion of the reviews should be specific and stem from the findings. Short ReportsBrief reports of data from original research. Short reports are shorter versions of original articles, may include one table or figure, should not exceed 1500 words, and it is recommended that the number of references should not exceed 15. Short reports are suitable for the presentation of research that extends previously published research, including the reporting of additional controls and confirmatory results in other settings, as well as negative results. Authors must clearly acknowledge any work upon which they are building, both published and unpublished.

ObjectivesThere is little evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Public Health Residents' (PHR) mental health (MH). This study aims at assessing prevalence and risk factors for depression, anxiety and stress in European PHR during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsBetween March and April 2021, an online survey was administered to PHR from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The survey assessed COVID-19 related changes in working conditions, training opportunities and evaluated MH outcomes using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. Multivariable logistic regressions were applied to identify risk factors.ResultsAmong the 443 respondents, many showed symptoms of depression (60.5%), anxiety (43.1%) and stress (61.2%). The main outcome predictors were: female gender for depression (adjOR = 1.59, 95%CI [1.05–2.42]), anxiety (adjOR = 2.03, 95%CI [1.33–3.08]), and stress (adjOR = 2.35, 95%CI [1.53–3.61]); loss of research opportunities for anxiety (adjOR = 1.94, 95%CI [1.28–2.93]) and stress (adjOR = 1.98, 95%CI [1.26–3.11]); and COVID-19 impact on training (adjOR = 1.78, 95%CI [1.12–2.80]) for depression.ConclusionsThe pandemic had a significant impact on PHR in terms of depression, anxiety and stress, especially for women and who lost work-related opportunities. Training programs should offer PHR appropriate MH support and training opportunities.