PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The study involved 120 patients with NAFLD, who were divided into two groups depending on BMI and the control group containing 20 practically healthy individuals.

RESULTS: Results: In patients with NAFLD with comorbid obesity, a statistically significant increase in the relative amount of Firmicutes (52.12 [42.38; 67.39]%) and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio (3.75 [1.7; 9.5]) against the background of a significant decrease in the amount of Bacteroidetes (13.41 [7.45; 26.07]%); in NAFLD patients with overweight, the relative amount of Firmicutes was 49.39 [37.47; 62.73]%, Firmicutes / Bacteroidetes ratio was 1.98 [1.15; 5.92], and the relative amount of Bacteroidetes was 23.69 [12.11; 36.16]%. In the control group, the distribution of the basic GM phylotypes was significantly different; the relative amount of Bacteroidetes was almost the same as of Firmicutes - 34.65 [24.58; 43.53]% and 29.97 [22.52; 41.75]% respectively, and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio was 0.64 [0.52; 1.47].

METHODS: A systematic review on ischemic stroke was carried out for all articles obtained from databases until 22nd October 2020. Main findings were extracted from all the eligible studies.

RESULTS: Eighteen eligible studies were included in the systematic review. These studies suggested that aging, inflammation, and different microbial compositions could contribute to ischemic stroke. Phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes also appeared to manipulate post-stroke outcome. The important role of microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids and trimethylamine N-oxide in ischemic stroke were also highlighted.

METHODS: A retrospective follow up study on all patients newly diagnosed with smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis from 2017 to 2019 was conducted at three government health clinics in Sabah, utilizing data from a national electronic tuberculosis database and medical records. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were applied for data analysis. The outcome of the study was the sputum conversion status at the end of the two-month intensive treatment phase with either successful conversion to smear negative or non-conversion.

RESULTS: 374 patients were included in the analysis. Our patients were generally younger than 60 years old with no medical illness and varying proportions of tuberculosis severity as judged by radiographic appearance and sputum bacillary load upon diagnosis. Foreigners constituted 27.8% of our sample. 8.8% (confidence interval: 6.2-12.2) did not convert to smear negative at the end of the intensive phase. Binary logistic regression showed that older patients ≥60 years old (adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 4.303), foreigners (AOR = 3.184) and patients with higher sputum bacillary load at diagnosis [2+ (AOR = 5.061) and 3+ (AOR = 4.992)] were more likely to have delayed sputum smear conversion.

Results: We tested the isolated bacteria using a selection of antibiotics. The results showed that both the number of antibiotic resistant strains and resistance level were higher in humans than NHPs. Overall, the composition of gut microbiome and pattern of antibiotic resistance showed that there was higher similarity between MF and TC, the two NHPs, than with HS. In addition, samples with higher levels of antibiotic resistance showed lower bacterial richness. Homo sapiens had the lowest bacterial diversity and yet it had higher abundance of Bacteroides. In contrast, NHPs displayed higher bacterial richness and greater prevalence of Firmicutes such as Ruminococceae and Oscillospira.