Critical Reviews in Microbiology最新文献

Physiological hemostasis is a balance between pro- and anticoagulant pathways, with multiple factors, regulators, and cellular components. Hemostasis is also closely associated with inflammation and immune response. In leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic spirochetal bacteria of the genus Leptospira, the hemostatic equilibrium is disturbed, resulting in coagulopathies that ultimately result in hemorrhages. Thrombocytopenia is a common complication in the affected patients and is often associated with poor clinical outcomes and high mortality. To date, the reports unraveling the origin of the molecular pathogenesis of leptospirosis hemostatic disturbances are scarce. In this review article, we summarize and analyze the complex pathophysiology of hemostatic impairment in the illness with a focus on the role of endotheliopathy, induction of pro-coagulant and pro-inflammatory states, and platelet dysfunction. We believe this can guide future studies aiming to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying coagulopathy in leptospirosis to improve our understanding based on evidence, which will give insight into novel interventions to tackle the disease.

Thermophile research has been transformed over the past decade by advances in genome sequencing. Once centered on culture collections and physiological studies of terrestrial hot springs and deep-sea hydrothermal vents, the field now employs amplicon sequencing, shotgun metagenomics, and long-read platforms to reveal the diversity, ecology, and genomic potential of thermophiles. Metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), metatranscriptomes, and metaproteomes have become crucial for linking taxonomy with function, uncovering previously hidden microbial dark matter in heated ecosystems. Bioinformatics, increasingly integrated with machine learning, has expanded insights into microbial biology, biomolecules, and ecological interactions. These advances highlight the broader environmental significance of thermophiles, spanning fundamental roles in ecosystem processes to practical applications. In 2015, we published Thermophiles in the Genomic Era: Biodiversity, Science, and Application to capture early next-generation sequencing milestones. A decade later, with tremendous progress achieved, this review revisits the field by synthesizing recent advances across viruses, planktonic thermophiles, and biofilm communities, emphasizing the power of genome-resolved approaches. We also highlight overlooked areas, opportunities for ecological integration and predictive modeling, and the importance of translating discoveries into biotechnological innovation. Our aim is to provide young researchers with a roadmap of emerging questions and strategies likely to shape the next decade of thermophile research.

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease becoming a major issue for healthcare systems in most parts of the world. While the causes of the disease are still not fully understood, the role of the microbiota has been widely demonstrated including the colonization by a particular pathovar of Escherichia coli, defined as adherent and invasive E. coli (AIEC), able to adhere to, and invade the intestinal epithelium, as well as to survive within macrophages. As the involvement of AIEC within CD pathophysiology is highly suspected, developing new strategies to limit AIEC colonization is a promising area of research. In this context, chitin and its derivatives, such as chitosan and chito-oligosaccharides (COS), possessing immunomodulatory and antimicrobial properties, could be promising candidates. This review provides a structural overview of chitin and its derivatives and summarizes the existing literature in the context of the potential beneficial effects of chitinous elements in CD and CD-like models, their capability to restrict AIEC colonization via multiple mechanisms, such as of reducing AIEC growth, countering biofilm formation, blocking bacterial adhesion, or stimulating the innate immune response. Lastly, we will explore strategies based on chitin-supplemented diet as therapeutic strategy in patients with CD.

Influenza viruses are highly contagious respiratory pathogens that cause seasonal outbreaks, leading to millions of infections and a significant number of deaths worldwide. To support rapid replication and transmission, influenza viruses hijack the host's metabolic pathways, including those involved in carbohydrate, amino acid, and lipid metabolism. Through this metabolic reprogramming, the virus leverages the host's metabolic resources to produce viral components and create specialized compartments necessary for replication and dissemination. In response, host cells activate a range of metabolic defense mechanisms to detect and counteract the virus-induced metabolic changes, resulting in a dynamic interplay that profoundly impacts the outcome of the infection. Advances in metabolomics have provided valuable insights into these complex host-virus interactions, identifying key metabolic biomarkers with potential for early diagnosis, real-time disease monitoring, and therapeutic response evaluation, especially in the early detection and management of severe influenza infections. In the future, these metabolic biomarkers could drive the development of new strategies for influenza prevention and treatment, providing a scientific foundation for precision medicine.

The incidence and prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease (LD) cases are rising, with diagnosis and treatment proving difficult. With the preponderance of viable NTM in both natural and engineered environments, the understood route of human infection is through environmental exposures. In an effort to decrease the occurrence of NTM LD, methods to reduce environmental NTM exposures are of great interest to people with infection and the clinical community. In 2013, coauthor Falkinham summarized methods known at the time to reduce exposure to LD-causing Mycobacterium avium. The objective of this current review was to perform an updated PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar literature search spanning 2014-2025 for newly reported methods and newer studies that expand on known mitigation strategies. In total, 31 articles were found. Among these new reports that posed new or improved methods to reduce environmental NTM exposure, risk assessment remains limited underscoring the need for more research in this area. We propose a feasible solution may be to revisit the "healthy home" concept and to consider the engineered environmental microbiome interactions when designing future homes.

The human gut microbiome is increasingly recognized as a key modulator of health and disease, with growing evidence supporting its influence on responses to cancer therapy. An important aspect of this relationship is gut microbial resilience, defined as the ability of the microbiome to recover its ecological equilibrium following disruption. Individual variations in microbial composition significantly influence resilience and, consequently, personalized responses to cancer treatments. However, the underlying functional characteristics of a resilient microbiome remain incompletely understood. Identifying specific microbial profiles with greater resilience to cancer therapies could improve the ability to predict treatment responses and mitigate adverse events. However, despite growing interest, a lack of longitudinal and mechanistic studies currently limits their clinical translation. This review examines current literature on gut microbiome compositions and individual treatment response to cancer therapy, with a focus on microbial features linked to resilience which could enable prediction of adverse response. While the use of microbial metabolites as predictive biomarkers (e.g. short-chain fatty acids and bile acids) is promising, further longitudinal and interventional studies are essential to support clinical application. Establishing specific microbial and metabolite profiles that promote resilience is essential to advance this emerging field of personalized gut-microbiome therapy.

Although biofilms pose significant challenges in healthcare and in different industries, main antibiofilm agents currently used for surface disinfection and clinical applications often exhibit harmful side effects and contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance. To tackle this challenge many biomolecules have been studied as alternatives, including bioemulsifiers, amphiphilic polymers that exhibit low toxicity and high biodegradability yet remain largely unexplored to date. By covering publications from 1983 to early 2025, this review aims to compile the current knowledge on bioemulsifiers from different microbial sources with a focus on their relevant properties as promising antibiofilm agents. Research on probiotics, often involving producer strains isolated from dairy products and animal microbiomes, focusing on marine-derived microorganisms were the most prominent fields benefiting from these molecules. Among different molecules, polysaccharides stood out, especially those from cultivable bacteria. This review focuses on key physico-chemical properties, such as their ability to alter surface hydrophobicity and to inhibit quorum sensing, while providing a comprehensive overview of their putative antibiofilm mechanisms. Finally, we highlight several identified bottlenecks and discuss key strategies and recent advances in metabolic and molecular engineering to instigate the research appetite on unlocking the full potential of microbial bioemulsifiers for biofilm control and prevention.

Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) are essential virulence factors produced by many bacterial pathogens, enabling tissue invasion, nutrient acquisition, and immune evasion. Neutralizing these toxins offers a promising therapeutic avenue to mitigate infection symptoms and slow disease progression. Recent research highlights the potential of host-inspired strategies targeting toxin-membrane interactions. Statins and oxysterols disrupt intracellular cholesterol synthesis and trafficking to reduce its abundance in cell membranes, mimicking natural cellular defenses against PFTs. Aminosterols alter membrane properties to hinder toxin binding and pore formation. Nanoparticle-based decoys, such as artificial liposomes composed of the lipids cholesterol and sphingomyelin or recycled cell membranes, act as toxin traps, sequestering PFTs to protect host tissues. These nanoparticles demonstrate broad-spectrum efficacy across many bacterial species and offer additional functions, such as scavenging inflammatory cytokines. This review evaluates the clinical potential of these emerging treatment strategies and discusses the advantages of leveraging host factors to mitigate bacterial virulence rather than directly targeting toxins. Such host-inspired approaches represent a novel and complementary addition to the arsenal against antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens.

Efflux-mediated resistance is a critical mechanism by which bacterial pathogens evade antibiotic treatment, posing significant challenges to effective infection management. As the first line of defence mechanism in bacteria, efflux pumps actively expel antibiotics, contributing to multidrug resistance. Recent advances in nanotechnology offer promising solutions, with nanobiotics emerging as a novel approach to combating efflux-mediated resistance. Nanobiotics are engineered nanoscale materials with antibacterial properties. They can be designed to inhibit efflux pump function, enhance drug accumulation, and disrupt bacterial cell membranes, thereby overcoming traditional resistance mechanisms. Nanobiotics can easily fuze with the bacterial cell wall and facilitate the release of antibiotics into the cytoplasm. This review provides an overview of efflux-mediated resistance mechanisms, highlights recent nanotechnology developments to design and formulate nanobiotics, and examines their potential to inhibit efflux pumps in multidrug-resistant bacterial strains. By targeting efflux systems, nanobiotics offer a potent and innovative approach to restoring the efficacy of conventional antibiotics and advancing the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.

Novel antibacterial agents are critically needed in light of the constant menace posed by bacterial infections and subsequent emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains. Quality of life has been improved remarkably through antibiotics that have fought microbial pathogens. . Luteolin has shown effectiveness against both gram-positive and gram negative bacteria. Luteolin and its derivatives, as novel phytochemical antimicrobial agents, exhibit activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria . Luteolin target bacteria by disrupting their cell membranes, inhibiting nucleic acid synthesis, and interfering with key enzymes. It also blocks quorum sensing and biofilm formation, crucial for bacterial virulence and resistance. Luteolin, despite its therapeutic potential, has limited clinical use due to poor water solubility and low bioavailability, leading to reduced absorption and rapid metabolism in the body. To address these issues, researchers are exploring advanced formulations like nanoparticles and liposomes to improve its solubility and effectiveness. Recent formulation advancements aim to enhance luteolin's delivery and efficacy as an antibacterial agent. However, in-depth in vivo studies are essential to unlock its full therapeutic potential for clinical use. This review highlights luteolin's antibacterial capabilities, usage challenges, and recent progress, stressing the importance of further research to fully leverage its benefits.