Social relationships shape human health and mortality via behavioral, psychosocial, and physiological mechanisms, including inflammatory and immune responses. Though not tested in human studies, recent primate studies indicate that the gut microbiome may also be a biological mechanism linking relationships to health. Integrating microbiota data into the 60-year-old Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we found that socialness with family and friends is associated with differences in the human fecal microbiota. Analysis of spouse (N = 94) and sibling pairs (N = 83) further revealed that spouses have more similar microbiota and more bacterial taxa in common than siblings, with no observed differences between sibling and unrelated pairs. These differences held even after accounting for dietary factors. The differences between unrelated individuals and married couples was driven entirely by couples who reported close relationships; there were no differences in similarity between couples reporting somewhat close relationships and unrelated individuals. Moreover, married individuals harbor microbial communities of greater diversity and richness relative to those living alone, with the greatest diversity among couples reporting close relationships, which is notable given decades of research documenting the health benefits of marriage. These results suggest that human interactions, especially sustained, close marital relationships, influence the gut microbiota.

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Involvement of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) by meningiomas poses specific challenges, without an agreement about the degree of surgical aggressiveness when dealing with these lesions. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we compare outcomes and complication rates, after different surgical strategies. Studies focused on meningiomas involving the SSS were collected from numerous online databases. Surgical outcome and complication data were abstracted. Comparisons were made considering complication and recurrence rates between an "aggressive" and a "non-aggressive" surgical attitude. A total of 26 studies, encompassing 1614 patients, were identified. Most of the tumors (53%) arose from the middle third of SSS and 75% of patients had a patent sinus at the time of surgery. A favorable outcome was achieved in 73% of patients treated with an "aggressive" surgical attitude compared to 78% of patients treated with a "non-aggressive" surgical attitude. Complication rates were similar between "aggressive" and "non-aggressive" attitudes, except for a higher rate of venous infarct (4% versus 2%, respectively) and worsening of preexisting motor deficits (34% versus 13%, respectively) in aggressively treated patients. Recurrence rates were not substantially different in the two groups after accounting for length of follow-up. Patients with incomplete resection (Simpson grades II-V) or with high histological grade (WHO grade III) had significantly higher recurrence rates. A complete resection achieves higher rates of tumor control, however, without nullifying the risk of recurrence. Moreover, "aggressive" tumor removal is associated with higher rates of venous complications and worsening of preexisting motor deficits.