Karen Pendergrass, Standards Team

Pathobionts are native microbes with the capacity to cause disease under disrupted host or microbiome conditions.

Zinc is an essential trace element vital for cellular functions and microbiome health. It influences immune regulation, pathogen virulence, and disease progression in conditions like IBS and breast cancer. Pathogens exploit zinc for survival, while therapeutic zinc chelation can suppress virulence, rebalance the microbiome, and offer potential treatments for inflammatory and degenerative diseases.

A metallomic signature is the condition-specific profile of trace metals and metal-binding molecules that reflects disrupted metal homeostasis.

This study demonstrates the potential of ¹H-NMR metabolomics to diagnose endometriosis non-invasively by identifying metabolic biomarkers and disrupted pathways. Quadratic Discriminant Analysis outperformed Artificial Neural Networks in diagnostic accuracy.

This study identifies microbiota alterations in ovarian endometrioma, showing distinct microbial shifts in peritoneal fluid extracellular vesicles. Enrichment of Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter, alongside depletion of Propionibacterium and Actinomyces, suggests inflammatory contributions to pathogenesis. Findings highlight the diagnostic potential of microbiota-derived EVs in endometrioma management.

This study demonstrates that peritoneal fluid-to-plasma ferritin and lactoferrin ratios distinguish endometriosis stage and severity. Iron overload and shifting iron-binding protein profiles reveal a localized dysregulation that may influence disease progression and potentially pathogenic microbiome selection.

This review highlights the safety and efficacy of phage therapy for chronic and prosthetic joint infections, showing a 91% success rate. Targeted pathogens include P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, key MMAs in wound microbiomes, underscoring phages as viable interventions for biofilm-associated, drug-resistant infections.

Fungal pathogens rely on metal acquisition for virulence. This review reveals how host tissues manipulate iron, copper, zinc, and manganese to starve or intoxicate fungi and how pathogens adapt, with implications for antifungal therapy and microbiome-targeted interventions.

Hypersensitivity to mercury and nickel was significantly more common in fatigued and autoimmune patients than in healthy controls. Removal of dental metals reversed symptoms and immune activation, suggesting that metal-driven immune dysregulation may underlie fatigue and autoimmunity.

This study found no significant correlation between serum calprotectin levels and the severity of endometriosis. Despite its known role as an inflammatory biomarker, calprotectin did not differentiate between stages of disease, suggesting limited utility in clinical staging and reinforcing the need for localized biomarker assessment.

A STOP (Suggested Termination Of Practices) is a recommendation that advocates for the discontinuation of certain medical interventions, treatments, or practices based on emerging evidence indicating that these may be ineffective, harmful, or counterproductive in the management of specific conditions.

This chapter reviews hyperaccumulator plants, especially in the Brassicaceae family, and their mechanisms of metal uptake. It highlights implications for human health, including how high-metal diets may shift the microbiome toward dysbiosis—an insight relevant to conditions like endometriosis where metallomic imbalances and microbial disruptions intersect.

A low-nickel diet significantly reduced GERD symptoms in 95% of participants, regardless of patch test status. The results suggest dietary nickel may contribute to GERD pathophysiology independently of classical allergy mechanisms.

This pilot study evaluated the prevalence of nickel (Ni) allergy in individuals diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and investigated the clinical efficacy of a low-nickel diet (LNiD) in this population. Specifically, the authors assessed the impact of the dietary intervention on gastrointestinal symptoms, intestinal permeability, quality of life, and psychological status […]

This study demonstrates that endometriosis induces gut microbiota alterations in a murine model, particularly increasing the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and enriching Bifidobacterium and Parasutterella. These shifts suggest dysbiosis as a contributing factor to inflammation and immune dysregulation, supporting the potential for microbiota-targeted therapies in endometriosis management.

This study identified two distinct IBS subgroups based on gut microbiome profiles, revealing correlations with regional brain volumes. The findings highlight the role of gut dysbiosis in structural brain alterations, offering potential biomarkers for subtype classification.

The study identified significant shifts in fecal bile acid composition and gut microbiota in IBS-D patients. Elevated primary bile acids and dysbiosis were linked to stool frequency and consistency, suggesting bile acid modulation as a potential therapeutic target for symptom management.

Phage therapy uses viruses to target and kill specific bacteria, offering a precise alternative to antibiotics, especially for resistant infections.

The study investigated gut microbiota in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS), revealing distinct microbial shifts, including increased Enterobacteriaceae and reduced Faecalibacterium populations, indicating potential inflammatory mechanisms

The study highlights functional dysbiosis in constipated-irritable bowel syndrome, with increased sulfate-reducing bacteria and disrupted SCFA profiles.

The study identified distinct oral microbiome profiles in IBS patients, particularly in those overweight, highlighting its potential as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for visceral pain severity and symptom progression.

This study explores the altered gut microbiota in IBS and its association with caffeine and dietary fiber. Findings indicate that high caffeine intake is linked to increased microbial diversity and altered gut microbiome composition in IBS patients, offering insights into dietary strategies for symptom modulation.

This study identifies site-specific microbial patterns in IBS-D patients, highlighting Bacteroides, Prevotella, and Oscillospira in the rectal mucosa as biomarkers. Findings suggest that rectal mucosa sampling may enhance diagnostic accuracy, paving the way for personalized microbiome-based treatments for IBS-D.

This study explores the gut microbiota imbalance and its correlations with hormone and inflammatory factors in stage 3/4 endometriosis. Key findings reveal distinct microbial shifts linked to hormonal dysregulation and inflammation, offering insights into disease mechanisms and potential microbiome-targeted therapeutic approaches.