Romi Wahengbam

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading non-communicable disease and the main cause of death worldwide, with atherosclerosis being the primary underlying condition factor. Emerging evidence highlights the crucial role of the host microbiota in regulating immune responses and metabolic pathways involved in atherogenesis. Gut and oral microbiota imbalance has been associated with atherosclerosis development, marked by a decrease in anti-inflammatory, butyrate-producing taxa such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia intestinalis, and Blautia, along with an increase in pro-inflammatory bacteria like Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcus spp., and Chlamydia pneumoniae. The detection of oral microbes within vascular and atherosclerotic lesions further connects oral health with cardiovascular outcomes. Microbial metabolites, such as trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) and microbial-associated molecular patterns, have been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Conversely, certain gut bacteria, notably Akkermansia muciniphila, Bacteroides dorei, and Bacteroides vulgatus, exhibit protective effects by reducing atherosclerotic lesions and systemic inflammation. Additionally, gut microbiota-derived metabolites, particularly short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and bile acid derivatives, regulate immune homeostasis and lipid metabolism via GPR41 and GPR43 receptors. Although microbial signatures associated with atherosclerosis remain debated, growing evidence supports the microbiota and its metabolites as integral to the immune-metabolic axis influencing CVD. Understanding these dual roles may guide the development of microbiome-targeted interventions, including dietary modifications, prebiotics, probiotics, and receptor agonists, to prevent and manage atherosclerosis.

The genome of Levilactobacillus zymae H2S4L2, isolated from an Indian traditional fermented bamboo shoot, was sequenced using Illumina MiSeq. The 2,750,751 bp genome had 53.18% GC content with 2,656 protein-coding genes, 4 rRNAs, and 58 tRNAs. Genome analysis may reveal adaptation in the fermentation ecosystem and health applications.

High-throughput sequencing generates vast data, often containing low-quality bases, chimeras, and artifacts that can mislead taxonomic classification and diversity assessments. Divisive amplicon denoising algorithm 2 (DADA2) enhances taxonomic resolution by excluding low-quality bases and optimizing amplicon sequence variant inference. Proper truncation reduces computational load while maintaining key hypervariable regions for accurate classification. In this study, we examine the effect of various truncation lengths during the DADA2 analysis in ensuring statistical robustness and improving the reliability of microbial community profiling in ecological and environmental studies. Truncation of read length from 175 to 185 bp improves the quality read recovery rate, and preserves microbial diversity in the V4 hypervariable region of the Illumina paired-end reads. Incorporating the optimal truncation length strategy optimizes read recovery and preserves the richness and evenness of microbial communities.

Proteus mirabilis is a well-known opportunistic pathogen primarily associated with urinary tract and wound infections in humans; however, its presence in fermented foods has rarely been documented. This study reports the first whole-genome characterization of P. mirabilis strain FFPR3MR5, isolated from traditionally fermented soybean ( hawaijar ) produced in Moirang, Manipur, India, to evaluate its genomic features, virulence potential, and evolutionary relationship with clinical isolates. The draft genome comprised 3.74 Mb with a GC content of 38.56%, assembled into 109 contigs and encoding 3,317 coding sequences, with 100% completeness and 0.17% contamination. Functional annotation identified 3,282 KEGG orthologs mapped to 40 metabolic pathways, with metabolism-related genes predominating (75.05%). Genome screening revealed 35 virulence-associated genes involved in adherence, motility, biofilm formation, and immune evasion, along with four antimicrobial resistance genes conferring resistance to β-lactams, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, and macrolides. Phylogenetic analysis showed that FFPR3MR5 clustered closely with the clinical reference strain P. mirabilis NC_010554, supported by a high OrthoANIu value of 99.39%. Genome-wide variant analysis identified approximately 27,000 polymorphisms, including deleterious nonsynonymous substitutions in genes associated with stress response ( cpxA , kdpD ), biofilm formation ( bcsA ), DNA repair ( recB , recC , ssb ), and metabolism ( metH ), suggesting niche-specific adaptation to the fermentation environment. The coexistence of virulence and antimicrobial resistance determinants in this food-derived strain underscores its potential as a reservoir of clinically relevant traits, highlighting the need for genomic surveillance of traditional fermented foods within a One Health framework.

Background: Metabolically–dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is rising globally, including in India, yet community-based data remain scarce. We addressed this critical knowledge gap by assessing the prevalence, distribution, and characteristics of MASLD subgroups and fibrosis, leveraging the Phenome India–CSIR Health Cohort Knowledgebase (PI-CHeCK) study. Methods: In this prospective, nationwide study, we recruited 10267 adults across 37 laboratories of the Council of Industrial Research (CSIR) from 27 Indian cities. Steatosis and fibrosis were assessed by Transient Elastography using Fibroscan, with associated clinical, biochemical, cytokine, anthropometric, and lifestyle data collected. Overall, crude and age-adjusted prevalence rates were estimated in the study population and various subgroups. Findings: Of the 10267 individuals screened, 7764 were eligible for analysis after exclusions. Among these, 3,712 (47.8%) fulfilled MASLD criteria, corresponding to an age-adjusted prevalence of 36.3%. Significant fibrosis (≥F2) was more frequent in MASLD (6.3% [234 of 3688]) than in cases of cryptogenic fibrosis without MASLD (1.7% [69 of 4027]), corresponding to an age-adjusted prevalence of 4.1% in MASLD. Overall age-adjusted prevalence of significant fibrosis was 2.3% in the entire cohort, which clustered in older adults (>60 years) and in those with diabetes or obesity II, with evidence of regional variation, peaking in Jorhat, Assam. Importantly, fibrosis in participants without MASLD emerged as a distinct subgroup with disproportionately elevated cytokine levels, exceeding those in MASLD with fibrosis, suggesting a cytokine-rich, high-risk phenotype. Conclusion: In this nationwide Indian cohort, MASLD affected over one-third of participants with a substantial burden of fibrosis. Notably, fibrosis without-MASLD emerged as a cytokine-rich, high-risk phenotype, underscoring an underrecognized dimension of liver disease with major public health implications.

Background High-throughput sequencing generates vast data, often containing low-quality bases, chimeras, and artifacts that can mislead taxonomic classification and diversity assessments. DADA2 enhances taxonomic resolution by excluding low-quality bases and optimizing ASV inference. Proper truncation reduces computational load while maintaining key hypervariable regions for accurate classification. In this study, we examine the effect of various truncation lengths during the DADA2 analysis in ensuring statistical robustness and improving the reliability of microbial community profiling in ecological and environmental studies. Results Truncation of read length improves the quality reads recovery rate, and preserves microbial diversity in the V4 hypervariable region of Illumina paired-end reads. Conclusion Incorporating the best truncation length strategy optimizes the reads recovery and preserves the richness and evenness of microbial communities.

Dietary choices and gut microbiota alterations are linked to the rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis. Fermented foods, recognized for their health benefits, are known for maintaining cardiovascular health, yet their impact on atherogenesis and associated gut microbiota changes is poorly understood. Here, we showed the restorative potential of long-term dietary supplementation with a traditional Indian fermented soybean, hawaijar , in mitigating atherogenic lesions formation and gut microbiota alteration induced by an atherogenic diet in C57BL/6 mice. The diet caused atherogenesis, characterized by increased inflammatory gene expression (IL-1β, ICAM-1, CD4, FoxP3), elevated serum LPS endotoxin levels, and compromised gut health, indicated by increased permeability and decreased expression of tight junction and mucin-producing genes essential for gut barrier integrity (Ocln, Cldn-1, Cldn-4, Muc-2). Metagenomic analysis revealed diet-induced gut dysbiosis, evidenced by an elevated Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio, reduced bacterial diversity, and a shift in bacterial composition, including a loss of beneficial Ligilactobacillus spp. while pathogenic Romboutsia spp., Escherichia spp., and Clostridium spp. emerged. Conversely, feeding hawaijar for sixteen weeks significantly improved atherogenesis, reducing atherosclerotic lesions, serum endotoxins, and inflammatory gene expression. It corrected dysbiosis, restoring gut microbiota to a healthy composition and enhancing gut barrier integrity by reducing permeability and increasing tight junction gene expression. Core beneficial bacteria such as Phocaeicola sartorii , Faecalibaculum rodentium , and Akkermansia muciniphila resurged, alongside the recovery of Muribaculum gordoncarteri and Duncaniella dubosii , which were lost in the atherogenic condition. Gut eubiosis upon fermented soybean supplementation was also linked with a predicted reduction in major metabolic pathways and a distinct increase in terpenoids and polyketide metabolism. The study highlights the importance of traditional fermented soybean in restoring gut microbiota diversity and gut health against dietary-induced dysbiosis, providing insights into its role in modulating atherogenesis in a gut microbiota-dependent manner. Highlights of findings: Metagenomics reveals changes in gut microbiota composition associated with diet-induced atherogenesis and consumption of traditional fermented soybean, hawaijar, in C57BL/6 mice. Fermented soybean supplementation in atherogenic diet reduces atherogenic lesions, expression of genes associated with inflammatory response (IL-1β, ICAM-1, CD4, and FoxP3), and serum LPS endotoxin level. Fermented soybean consumption improves gut barrier integrity, indicated by decreased gut permeability and elevated expressions of tight junction genes (Ocln, Cldn-1, Cldn-4). Dietary fermented soybean supplementation promotes eubiosis of atherogenic diet-induced dysbiotic microbiota with a profile characteristic of a normal diet. Five core microbiota members, including Ligilactobacillus spp., CAG-485 sp002493045 and others, are lost under atherogenic diet regime; however, only Muribaculum gordoncarteri and Duncaniella dubosii are restored with fermented soybean supplementation. Eubiosis of diet-induced dysbiotic microbiota upon fermented soybean supplementation is associated with a predicted reduction in major metabolic pathways and a distinct increase in terpenoids and polyketide metabolism. Graphical

It is known that alcoholic beverages alter the human gut microbiome. This study focused on the potential impact of non-ethanolic ingredients in whisky on the gut bacteriome. A pilot study was carried out on 15 whisky drinkers, 5 rice beer drinkers, and 9 non-drinkers to determine the effect of alcoholic beverages on the host microbiome and metabolome. Additionally, a mouse model was used to assess the differential impact of three whisky brands (each with an equal ethanol concentration). The results indicate that the non-ethanolic components have an impact on the gut microbiome, as well as on the metabolites in blood and feces. The amount of Prevotella copri, a typical core Indian gut bacterium, decreased in both the human and mouse groups of whisky type 1, but an increase in abundance of Helicobacteriaceae (p = 0.01) was noticed in both groups. Additionally, the alcohol-treated cohorts had lower levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), specifically butyric acid, and higher amounts of lipids and stress marker IL1-ß than the untreated groups (p = 0.04–0.01). Furthermore, two compounds, ethanal/acetaldehyde (found in all the whisky samples) and arabitol (unique to whisky type 1), were tested in the mice. Similar to the human subjects, the whisky type 1 treated mouse cohort and the arabitol-treated group showed decreased levels of Prevotella copri (p = 0.01) in their gut. The results showed that non-ethanolic compounds have a significant impact on host gut bacterial diversity and metabolite composition, which has a further vital impact on host health. Our work further emphasizes the need to study the impact of non-ethanolic ingredients of alcoholic beverages on host health.