Faecal VOCs (volatile organic compounds) were compared in horses and ponies before and after 6 weeks on Spring pasture and with and without a dietary supplement (ERME).The supplement was derived from malted barley and contained enzymes which degrade complex carbohydrates, including amylase, maltase, glucanases and fructanases.VOCs of faecal samples were analysed by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) and the results showed that the faecal microbiome was altered in different ways both by feeding on Spring pasture and by the dietary supplement.The composition of the equine gut microbiome (EGM) is therefore potentially a reflection of dietary constituents, both pasture and supplements; any metabolomic approach should take this into account since the EGM may have modulating effects on physiological parameters such as diabetes and obesity. Methods Study protocolFaecal samples were collected non-invasively either before and six weeks after supplementation with ERME while keeping the horses/ ponies on pasture for 6 weeks in Spring.The volatile faecal metabolome was characterised using selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) in conjunction with multivariate data analysis. Study population and samplingA study population of 45 horses and ponies at the Redwings Sanctuary, Norfolk was chosen by the resident veterinary officer to take part in the study.This was performed in Spring from early May to mid-June, the timing being chosen so that the effects of eating new grass could be determined.A power calculation was performed based on previous data using ERME as a dietary supplement [4].Based on a significance of p<0.05 and a power of 0.8, the sample size required was 18 and a minimum of 20 horses per group was randomly selected.The study population was chosen based on the following inclusion and exclusion criteria.Inclusion criteria included: >2 years old, no physical evidence of disease, based on a clinical examination by a veterinary officer, and resident at the sanctuary for >1 year.Exclusion criteria included being on any medication, pregnancy and no entire males.Horses were randomly allocated to either the treatment group or the control group.

The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as a non-invasive method for disease monitoring, such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) has shown potential over the years although not yet set in clinical practice. Longitudinal studies to date are limited and the understanding of the underlying VOC emission over the age is poorly understood. This study investigated longitudinal changes in VOCs present in faecal headspace in two mouse models of T2D – Cushing’s syndrome and single Afmid knockout mice. Longitudinal changes in bodyweight, blood glucose levels and plasma insulin concentration were also reported. Faecal headspace analysis was carried out using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) and thermal desorption coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). Multivariate data analysis of the VOC profile showed differences mainly in acetic acid and butyric acid able to discriminate the groups Afmid and Cushing’s mice. Moreover, multivariate data analysis revealed statistically significant differences in VOCs between Cushing’s mice/wild-type (WT) littermates, mainly short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), ketones, and alcohols, and longitudinal differences mainly attributed to methanol, ethanol and acetone. Afmid mice did not present statistically significant differences in their volatile faecal metabolome when compared to their respective WT littermates. The findings suggested that mice developed a diabetic phenotype and that the altered VOC profile may imply a related change in gut microbiota, particularly in Cushing’s mice. Furthermore, this study provided major evidence of age-related changes on the volatile profile of diabetic mice.

Nail damage is common amongst patients receiving chemotherapy causing disfigurement and pain. This investigation evaluated whether a topical balm containing steam-extracted, bioactive polyphenolic-rich herbal oils blended with organic waxes could protect the nails via their reported anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-oxidant and anti-microbial properties.

10103 Background: Nail damage is common amongst patients receiving chemotherapy, especially taxanes, causing pain, distress, disfigurement, infection and restricted daily activities. Cooling the nail beds helps but there has been no published evidence for the effectiveness of nail balms, despite their popular use. We investigated whether a topical nail bed balm containing bioactive polyphenolic rich African salvia officinalis, gaultheria procumbens in a natural base of olea europaea, butyrospermun parkii, cera alba and theobroma cacao protected the nail beds via their reported anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-oxidant and anti-microbial properties. Methods: 60 patients (23 male, 37 female) were randomized to apply to their nail bed (tds) the natural balm or a petroleum balm suitably scented for a placebo control. Demographics, type and number of chemotherapy cycles did not differ between the two groups, recruited between Sept 2016-Sept 2017. At baseline and at the end of chemotherapy both patients and physicians measured outcomes of nail health. Patients completed a Dermatology Life Quality questionnaire and a linear severity scale; physician completed a Nail Psoriasis Index (NPSI) and a linear severity scale based on clinical examination and photographs. Differences were analyzed using an unpaired t-test; significance level α = 0.05 at 95% confidence intervals (CI); probability (p). Results: The mean change in nail health outcomes over the course of chemotherapy were: (see table). Conclusions: The polyphenolics rich essential oils and plant-based waxes in this nail bed balm profoundly reduced chemotherapy related nail damage and improved nail related quality of life compared to a plain petroleum based balm. A future evaluation combining nail bed cooling and this natural balm is planned. Clinical trial information: 015-001866-24. [Table: see text]

(2015). Comparison of GCMS, HPLCMS and SIFTMS in conjunction with multivariate classification for the diagnosis of Crohn's disease in urine. Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online's data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. Please do not adjust margins Please do not adjust margins † Footnotes relang to the tle and/or authors should appear here. Electronic Supplementary Information (ESI) available: [details of any supplementary information available should be included here]. See The developed world has seen an alarming increase in the incidence of gastrointestinal diseases, among the most common of which is Crohn's disease (CD) in the young. The current " gold standard " techniques for diagnosis are often costly, time consuming, inefficient, invasive, and offer poor sensitivities and specificities. This paper compares the performances of three hyphenated instrumental techniques that have been suggested as rapid methods for the non‐invasive diagnosis of CD from urine. These techniques are gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), high performance liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (HPLC‐MS) and selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT‐MS). Each of these techniques is followed by multivariate classification to provide a diagnosis based on the acquired data. The most promising results for potentially diagnosing CD was via HPLC‐MS. An overall classification accuracy of 73% (74% specificity; 73% sensitivity) was achieved for differentiating CD from healthy controls, statistically significant at 95% confidence.

ITP is an organ-specific autoimmune disorder characterised by a low platelet count whose cause is uncertain. A possible factor is food intolerance, although much of the information linking this with ITP is anecdotal. The role of food intolerance in ITP was studied by replacing a normal diet with an elemental diet (E028), but this did not increase platelet counts. Clear differences, however, were apparent between the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the urine headspace of patients with ITP and those present in healthy volunteers, which leads to speculation that abnormal metabolic activity of the intestinal microbiome may be a factor causing ITP. However, further work is needed to confirm this. There were also differences between the VOCs of patients on a normal diet and those on the elemental diet, and in this case, the VOCs involved are very likely to be of bacterial origin, as their production is affected by dietary manipulation. Many of these VOCs are known to be toxic.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Enteral feeding will induce remission in as many as 80-90% of compliant patients with active Crohn's disease (CD), but its method of action remains uncertain. This study was designed to examine its effects on the colonic microbiome.METHODS/SUBJECTS: Healthy volunteers and patients with CD followed a regimen confined to enteral feeds alone for 1 or 2 weeks, respectively. Chemicals excreted on breath or in faeces were characterised at the start and at the end of the feeding period by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.RESULTS: One week of feeding in healthy volunteers caused significant changes in stool colour and deterioration in breath odour, together with increased excretion of phenol and indoles on the breath. Feeding for 2 weeks in patients with CD produced significant improvements in symptoms and a decrease in the concentration of C-reactive protein. The faecal concentrations of microbial products, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and potentially toxic substances, including 1-propanol, 1-butanol and the methyl and ethyl esters of SCFAs, showed significant falls.CONCLUSIONS: A significant change occurs in the production of microbial metabolites after enteral feeding in both healthy volunteers and patients with CD. Many of those detected in CD are toxic and may feasibly lead to the immunological attack on the gut microbiota, which is characteristic of inflammatory bowel disease. The reduction in the production of such metabolites after enteral feeding may be the reason for its effectiveness in CD.

While current food science research mainly focuses on microbial changes in food products that lead to foodborne illnesses, meat spoilage remains as an unsolved problem for the meat industry. This can result in important economic losses, food waste and loss of consumer confidence in the meat market. Gram-negative bacteria involved in meat spoilage are aerobes or facultative anaerobes. These represent the group with the greatest meat spoilage potential, where Pseudomonas tend to dominate the microbial consortium under refrigeration and aerobic conditions. Identifying stress response genes under different environmental conditions can help researchers gain an understanding of how Pseudomonas adapts to current packaging and storage conditions. We examined the gene expression profile of Pseudomonas putida KT2440, which plays an important role in the spoilage of meat products. Gene expression profiles were evaluated to select the most differentially expressed genes at different temperatures (30 degrees C and 10 degrees C) and decreasing glucose concentrations, in order to identify key genes actively involved with the spoilage process. A total of 739 and 1269 were found to be differentially expressed at 30 degrees C and 10 degrees C respectively; of which 430 and 568 genes were overexpressed, and 309 and 701 genes were repressed at 30 degrees C and 10 degrees C respectively. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diagnosis of colorectal cancer is an invasive and expensive colonoscopy, which is usually carried out after a positive screening test. Unfortunately, existing screening tests lack specificity and sensitivity, hence many unnecessary colonoscopies are performed. Here we report on a potential new screening test for colorectal cancer based on the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the headspace of faecal samples. Faecal samples were obtained from subjects who had a positive faecal occult blood sample (FOBT). Subjects subsequently had colonoscopies performed to classify them into low risk (non-cancer) and high risk (colorectal cancer) groups. Volatile organic compounds were analysed by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) and then data were analysed using both univariate and multivariate statistical methods. Ions most likely from hydrogen sulphide, dimethyl sulphide and dimethyl disulphide are statistically significantly higher in samples from high risk rather than low risk subjects. Results using multivariate methods show that the test gives a correct classification of 75% with 78% specificity and 72% sensitivity on FOBT positive samples, offering a potentially effective alternative to FOBT.

Experiments into the relationship between diet and health have been an area of high interest for a long time. In this study, we investigate the application of multivariate data analysis to differentiate between rat populations fed on two different diets: normal rat diet (control) and Western affluent diet (WAD). Two sets of data were acquired and analysed: one from a biochemical clinical analyser, taking measurements of blood-based biochemical markers; the other from the analysis of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from faecal samples from the same animals using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS). Five classes were considered: weanlings, 12 month controls, 12 month WADs, 18 month controls, and 18 month WADs. Data from the biochemical analyser, weanlings and 18 month WAD fed rats showed significant differences from the other measurement classes. This was shown in both the exploratory analysis and through multivariate classification. Classification of control diet versus WAD diets suggested there are differences between classes with 92% accuracy for the 12 month classes and 91% for the 18 month classes. Cholesterol markers, especially as low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL), were the main factor in influencing WAD samples. The data from the SIFT-MS analysis also produced very good classification accuracies. Classification of control diet versus WAD diets using the H3O+ precursor ion data suggested there are differences between classes with 71% accuracy for the 12 month classes and 100% for the 18 month classes. These findings confirm that total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol are elevated in the 18 month WAD-fed rats. We therefore suggest that the analysis of VOCs from faecal samples in conjunction with multivariate data analysis may be a useful alternative to blood analysis for the detection of parameters of health.

The developed world has seen an alarming increase in the incidence of gastrointestinal diseases, among the most common of which is Crohn's disease (CD) in the young. The current "gold standard" techniques for diagnosis are often costly, time consuming, inefficient, invasive, and offer poor sensitivities and specificities. This paper compares the performances of three hyphenated instrumental techniques that have been suggested as rapid methods for the non-invasive diagnosis of CD from urine. These techniques are gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) and selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS). Each of these techniques is followed by multivariate classification to provide a diagnosis based on the acquired data. The most promising results for potentially diagnosing CD was via HPLC-MS. An overall classification accuracy of 73% (74% specificity; 73% sensitivity) was achieved for differentiating CD from healthy controls, statistically significant at 95% confidence.

As nanoparticles could form aggregates in biological systems, the dynamics of their dispersity drives the temporal effect of nanoparticles in vitro. To test this hypothesis, the fumed silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) that have primary sizes of 7-14 nm and form aggregates in culture medium were selected for toxicity study in human lung A549 cells. The dispersity of SiNPs was analyzed by dynamic light scattering and transmission of electron microscopy. Cytotoxicity assays including mitochondrial activity, intracellular level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and membrane damage together with the ¹H-NMR-based extracellular metabonomic assay were conducted to determine the temporal dose-effect relationship of SiNPs. In cell culture medium, SiNPs dispersed well initially at 25-100 μg/ml; however, they sedimented rapidly in a concentration-dependent manner. SiNPs caused a dose-dependent increase of intracellular ROS and cell membrane damage at 4 h and a loss of cell viability after 48 h. SiNPs also induced an elevation of extracellular glucose, lactate, phenylalanine, histidine, and tyrosine levels in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The dose-effect patterns at 4 h were different from that at 12 and 24 h as assessed by both cytotoxicity and metabonomic assays. Both fitted better with polynomial regression than linear regression, implying multimode action of SiNPs at different concentrations. The early NP-cell interaction and the late sedimentation could be attributable to the temporal effects of SiNPs. The extracellular ¹H-NMR-based metabonomics demonstrated a potential as a robust nondestructive tool for monitoring the temporal effect of NPs that tend to aggregate in nature.

Gastrointestinal diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis are a growing concern in the developed world. Current techniques for diagnosis are often costly, time consuming, inefficient, of great discomfort to the patient, and offer poor sensitivities and specificities. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a new methodology for the non-invasive diagnosis of such diseases using a combination of gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and chemometrics. Several potential sample matrices were tested: blood, breath, faeces and urine. Faecal samples provided the only statistically significant results, providing discrimination between CD and healthy controls with an overall classification accuracy of 85 % (78 % specificity; 93 % sensitivity). Differentiating CD from other diseases proved more challenging, with overall classification accuracy dropping to 79 % (83 % specificity; 68 % sensitivity). This diagnostic performance compares well with the gold standard technique of colonoscopy, suggesting that GC–MS may have potential as a non-invasive screening tool.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the headspace of feces could be used to diagnose or distinguish between chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and apparently healthy volunteers. Methods: A total of 87 people were recruited, divided between 4 categories: healthy volunteers (n = 19), Crohn’s disease (n = 22), ulcerative colitis (n = 20), and irritable bowel syndrome (n = 26). They each supplied fecal samples before, and except for the healthy volunteers, after treatment. Fecal samples were incubated in a sample bag with added purified air at 40°C and headspace samples were taken and concentrated on thermal sorption tubes. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry then desorbed and analyzed these. The concentrations of a selection of high-abundance compounds were determined and assessed for differences in concentration between the groups. Results: Crohn's disease samples showed significant elevations in the concentrations of ester and alcohol derivates of short-chain fatty acids and indole compared with the other groups; indole and phenol were elevated in ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome but not at a statistically significant level. After treatment, the levels of many of the VOCs were significantly reduced and were more similar to those concentrations in healthy controls. Conclusions: The abundance of a number of VOCs in feces differs markedly between Crohn's disease and other gastrointestinal conditions. Following treatment, the VOC profile is altered to more closely resemble that of healthy volunteers.

The relative abundance of different groups of sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in faecal DNA collected before and after therapy from patients suffering from Crohn's disease (CD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or ulcerative colitis (UC) has been compared with that from healthy controls. Growth tests revealed that SRB were not more abundant in samples from patients with CD before treatment than in the healthy control group. For most of the 128 samples available, these preliminary results were confirmed using degenerate PCR primers that amplify the dsrAB gene. However, some samples from patients with CD before treatment contained a growth inhibitor that was absent from IBS or UC samples. In-depth sequencing of PCR-generated dsrB fragments revealed that the diversity detected was surprisingly low, with only eight strains of SRB and the sulphite-reducing bacterium, Bilophila wadsworthia, detected above the 0.1% threshold. The proportion of the two major species detected, B. wadsworthia and Desulfovibrio piger, was as high as 93.5% of the total SRB population in the healthy control group and lower in all patient groups. Four previously undescribed species were found: it is impossible to predict whether they are sulphate or sulphite-reducing bacteria.

School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Gastroenterology 6 Research Unit, Box 262, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; School of Electronic, 7 Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; 8 Cranfield Health, Vincent Building, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL: The Department 9 of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BJ, UK; 10

BACKGROUND:MicroRNA (miRNA) directed gene repression is an important mechanism of posttranscriptional regulation. Comprehensive analyses of how microRNA influence biological processes requires paired miRNA-mRNA expression datasets. However, a review of both GEO and ArrayExpress repositories revealed few such datasets, which was in stark contrast to the large number of messenger RNA (mRNA) only datasets. It is of interest that numerous primary miRNAs (precursors of microRNA) are known to be co-expressed with coding genes (host genes).RESULTS:We developed a miRNA-mRNA interaction analyses pipeline. The proposed solution is based on two miRNA expression prediction methods - a scaling function and a linear model. Additionally, miRNA-mRNA anti-correlation analyses are used to determine the most probable miRNA gene targets (i.e. the differentially expressed genes under the influence of up- or down-regulated microRNA). Both the consistency and accuracy of the prediction method is ensured by the application of stringent statistical methods. Finally, the predicted targets are subjected to functional enrichment analyses including GO, KEGG and DO, to better understand the predicted interactions.CONCLUSIONS:The MMpred pipeline requires only mRNA expression data as input and is independent of third party miRNA target prediction methods. The method passed extensive numerical validation based on the binding energy between the mature miRNA and 3' UTR region of the target gene. We report that MMpred is capable of generating results similar to that obtained using paired datasets. For the reported test cases we generated consistent output and predicted biological relationships that will help formulate further testable hypotheses.

Drinking water attained from aquifers (ground water) is susceptible to contamination from a wide variety of sources. The importance of ensuring that the water is of high quality is paramount. Multivariate calibration in conjunction with analytical techniques can assist in qualifying and quantifying a wide range of pollutants. These can be divided into two types: inorganic and organic. The former typically includes heavy metals such as cadmium and lead; the latter includes a range of compounds such as pesticides and by-products of industrial processes such as oil refining. This article presents the application of the well known nature-inspired paradigm of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the quantitative determination of inorganic pollutants (namely cadmium, lead and copper) and organic pollutants (namely anthracene, phenanthrene and naphthalene) from multivariate analytical data acquired from the samples. The success of the determination of the pollutants via ANNs is reported in terms of the overall root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) which is an accepted measure of the difference between the predicted concentrations and the actual concentrations. The work represents a good example of nature-inspired methods being used to solve a genuine environmental problem.

In this paper, we present an optical diagnostic assay consisting of a mixture of environmental-sensitive fluorescent dyes combined with multivariate data analysis for quantitative and qualitative examination of biological and clinical samples. The performance of the assay is based on the analysis of spectrum of the selected fluorescent dyes with the operational principle similar to electronic nose and electronic tongue systems. This approach has been successfully applied for monitoring of growing cell cultures and identification of gastrointestinal diseases in humans.

Cell-based experiments provide the efficacy of chemicals through the biological function.The authors have described post-synapse model cell-based assay based on qualified analysis for neural drug discoveries.However, in general, cell-based assays often include data fluctuation.This may be a barrier preventing the performance for various practical purposes.In this study, we tried discerning data analysis for clarify the chemical action to the ionotoropic glutamate receptor (GluR), whereby an ion-flux assay of post-synapse model cells is performed and are analyzed based on a chemometrics approach.The dynamic behavior of the GluR of post-synapse model cell was assayed with multivariate data analysis methods namely hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA).By using HCA, we can identify and remove the non-responding samples.By using PCA, the effect of chemicals on the dynamic behavior of ion flux through GluR can be recognized clearly; as either agonist or antagonist.As shown in the results, the GluR-based assay by post-synapse model cell with data analysis methods provide a sodium influx profile which is derived by an agonists or antagonists application.By employing the data analysis methods, PCA and HCA, it is possible to develop a smart cellular biosensing system for qualified analysis.