I am currently working with BiomeSight.com to add Taxon numbers to their downloadable reports.

At first sight, this should be easy, the sample of their complete taxonomy looks like this:

The problem is that their software have forced items into an unnatural structure to make presentation easy. An item that is under Class — when you go to NCBI Taxonomy Browser may be listed as:

• Sub-Class
• Super-Class
• Order
• Sub Order
• Family

The result is that many many items have to be resolve by manual inspection of NCBI to find the apparent match and individually assigned. Example below, notice the “Group II” item which required working from existing matches for a line to identify probable candidates.

Update [MicrobiomeSight] Set OID=2731342 Where [Order]='Group II'
Update [MicrobiomeSight] Set OID=1643688 Where [Order]='Leptospirae'

Other issues concern differences of spelling and renaming, i.e. Cerasicoccales vs Cerasicoccus that was found….

While NCBI shows

We have a possible old/atypical name being used which obtuficates reports. This is one of the key reasons that I am pushing for taxon numbers in all uploads because without them, we would have massive inconsistencies.

After getting all of the Genus and Above resolved, I hit an issue with the species.. namely the list shown below remain unresolved. A few I did a google for and found no hits. Many had incomplete names.

Example:

Bacillus polyfermenticus in NCBI is Bacillus velezensis variant polyfermenticus

• Acholeplasma ales
• Burkholderia eae
• Candidatus Methylacidiphilum infernorum
• Cryocola poae
• Dechloromonas fungiphilus
• Desulfovibrio aceae
• Enterobacter aceae
• Enterobacter rottae
• Erwinia dispersa
• Haererehalobacter salaria
• Haloterrigena gari
• Herpetosiphon agaradhaerens
• Megasphaera geminatus
• Mycobacterium indicus
• Oscillospira eae
• Tessaracoccus terricola
• Pasteurella eae
• Stenotrophomonas retroflexus
• Stenotrophomonas griseosporeus
• Trabulsiella farmeri
• Vibrio bacterium

Bottom Line

All Phylum, Orders, Classes, Families and Genus had matching taxon assigned. At the Species level, 6445 were identified and 21 were not. This means 99.7% of species were given taxon numbers. I expect BiomeSight.com to offer uploadable formats soon, ideally with automatic transfer from their web site.

I just got out of the hospital for cellulitis where I was treated with IV antibiotics. My discharges notes said “take antibiotics to prevent diarrhea”. I asked which ones… blank faces. No one seem to have a concrete idea. So this is a review of the literature:

• “Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) occurs in approximately 25% of patients receiving antibiotics.” [2008]
• ” analyzing 25 randomized controlled trials of probiotics for the prevention of AAD … more than half of the trials demonstrated efficacy of the probiotic. ” So a random probiotic may have just a 50% chance of being effective. [2008]
  • “We identified no evidence that a multistrain preparation of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria was effective in prevention of AAD or CDD. ” [2013]
•  Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecium (A Retrospective Study of Probiotics for the Treatment of Children With Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea [2020])
•  Lactobacillus casei DN 11400 (Commercially Available Probiotic Drinks Containing Lactobacillus Casei DN-114001 Reduce Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea, 2014) i.e. Yakult drink
• Lactobacillus GG (culturelle), Bacillus coagulans, and S. boulardii appeared to be most effective [2008]

If you find any other studies that is explicit on the probiotic strains used with good results, please email me at Ken/at\lassesen.com

To help find which probiotics contain the above see this page.

A reader asked about this, which I have no covered yet. Increased allergies and mast cell issues often occur with microbiome dysfunction and chronic fatigue syndrome.

• Pycnogenol® (Extract of French Maritime Pine Bark) for the Treatment of Chronic Disorders [2012] “Due to small sample size, limited numbers of trials per condition, variation in outcomes evaluated and outcome measures used, as well as the risk of bias in the included studies, no definitive conclusions regarding the efficacy or safety of Pycnogenol(®) are possible.” Note dates of later studies below….
• Effect of Pycnogenol® on an Experimental Rat Model of Allergic Conjunctivitis[AC] 2018 “The animal model of AC was successfully developed by using aforementioned way. PYC is a safe herbal product and it has alleviated the findings of ovalbumin-induced AC-similar to dexamethasone-histologically in this experimental model.”
• Pycnogenol Ameliorates Asthmatic Airway Inflammation and Inhibits the Function of Goblet Cells [2016]
  • “PYC inhibited the number of total inflammatory cells and levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of OVA-induced mice”
• Allergic Rhinitis: A Proprietary Extract of Pinus Pinaster Aiton (Pycnogenol) Is Found to Improve the Symptoms Associated With Allergic Rhinitis [2016]
• Inhibitory Effects of Pycnogenol® (French Maritime Pine Bark Extract) on Airway Inflammation in Ovalbumin-Induced Allergic Asthma [2013]
• Pycnogenol® Improvements in Asthma Management [2011]
• A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Exploratory Study to Evaluate the Potential of Pycnogenol for Improving Allergic Rhinitis Symptoms[2010 ] “With the limited number of 39 patients statistical predications were unattainable. In conclusion, Pycnogenol improved allergic rhinitis symptoms when supplementation was started at least 5 weeks before the onset of the allergy season.”
• Pycnogenol as an Adjunct in the Management of Childhood Asthma [2004]
• Pycnogenol Inhibits Immunoglobulin E-mediated Allergic Response in Mast Cells [2009]
• Pycnogenol Inhibits the Release of Histamine From Mast Cells [2003]

Bottom Line

The research to date suggests that it may take 2 or more months before significant benefits may be seen in some cases.

SOURCES: https://www.paulsmarteurope.com/ and https://www.naturitas.us/

“The probiotic Symbioflor 1 is a historical concoction of 10 isolates of Enterococcus faecalis. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed two groups: one comprising eight identical clones (DSM16430, DSM16432, DSM16433, DSM16435 to DSM16439) and a further two isolates (DSM16431, DSM16434) with marginally different profile” [2016]

“A double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study in 157 patients with chronic recurrent sinusitis investigated the occurrence of acute relapses during treatment of patients with a bacterial immunostimulant (3 x 30 drops/day), comprised of cells and autolysate of human Enterococcus faecalis bacteria (Symbioflor 1, n = 78) in comparison to placebo (n = 79)…. the occurrence of relapses (50 incidents) was about half (56%) the number observed under placebo (90 incidents)” [2002]

“the time span until occurrence of the first relapse was clearly longer under verum[Symbioflor-1] (699 days) than under placebo (334 days) and after the end of the observation period 91% of patients under verum experienced only one relapse compared to 62% in the placebo group (p = 0.01). ” [2001]

From PubMed

• “Compared with the controls, probiotic intervention significantly upregulated the level of IL-10 and TGF-β, downregulated levels of IFN-γ, and increased progesterone level that reversed the trend of being Th1 predominance state ” [2020]
• “1. E. faecalis stimulates the liberation of interleukin 1 (IL-1 beta) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in a dose-dependent manner; the E. faecalis induced liberation of IL-1 beta and IL-6 is inhibited by dexamethasone (Dm) but not by cyclosporin A (CsA).”
  ” 2. E. faecalis stimulates the liberation of gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma) in a dose-dependent manner, which is inhibited by both Dm and CsA.”
  “3. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced liberation of gamma-IFN and interleukin-2 (IL-2) is inhibited by E. faecalis in a dose-dependent manner. ” [1994]
• “For instance, Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 was a poor inducer of iNOS gene expression compared to the other E. coli strains, while Enterococcus faecalis Symbioflor-1 was more potent in this respect compared to all the eleven Gram-positive strains tested. ” [2014]

Personal Experience

I have used this for sinus issues in the past and it has been effective in clearing them.

Source: https://www.paulsmarteurope.com/symbioflor-1-tropfen-drops-50ml/

A reader forwarded this to me with the following comment..

My mother is a health 58 years old women a little bit over weight she started to have after 2 weeks of use: headaches and feeling very fatigued so I think she has die-off, The interesting thing that happen she has swollen lymph nodes under her arm pits for about 25 plus years, the lumps started to regress, I cannot find the microbiome condition associated with this and this strain of probiotic she started to use.

Entero Satys

This is available from France. Link here. International availability is unknown. “Hafnia alvei is a psychrotrophic bacterium, it originates in raw milk and continues to grow in cheeses such as Camembert.  abundant levels of Hafnia alvei can be found in raw milk cheese ” [Wikipedia]

Research

Hafnia alvei HA4597 Strain Reduces Food Intake and Body Weight Gain and Improves Body Composition, Glucose, and Lipid Metabolism in a Mouse Model of Hyperphagic Obesity 2019

• “In conclusion, the present study showed that a daily provision of the H. alvei HA4597™ strain in genetically obese and hyperphagic ob/ob mice with HFD-exacerbated obesity decreased body weight gain, improved body composition, decreased food intake, and ameliorated several metabolic parameters, including plasma glucose and total cholesterol levels. “

Commensal Hafnia Alvei Strain Reduces Food Intake and Fat Mass in Obese Mice-A New Potential Probiotic for Appetite and Body Weight Management 2020

• “Finally, the low abundance of ClpB gene expressing Enterobacterales species found in the microbiota of obese subjects in the present in silico analysis may indicate insufficient anorexigenic signaling from the gut microbiota to the host, further providing the rationale for supplementation of commensal bacteria expressing the ClpB protein with an α-MSH-like motif. “

Role of the Gut Microbiota in Host Appetite Control: Bacterial Growth to Animal Feeding Behaviour, 2017

Bottom Line

There was no detail microbiome information cited in studies above. The mechanism of operation was increase production of a metabolite from this bacteria that alters the number of meals.

The daily dosage is 50 million CFU ** / 100 billion cells, i.e. 5 x 10^7. Some (made in France) Camembert are reported to exceed this level in 1 gram (especially the surface).

It is available as a specialized cheese starter.