Vincent B. Young-Research Summary

Our group is interested in the role bacteria play in acute and chronic gastrointestinal (GI) illness. To this end, we study the role of what would traditionally be considered “pathogenic bacteria” in gastrointestinal illness. In addition, we also examine how the population structure of the indigenous GI microbiota can influence the host-pathogen interaction and how changes in the community structure of the indigenous microbiota itself can lead to pathogenic states. Specific areas of investigation include:

MURINE MODELS OF INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

The bacterium Helicobacter hepaticus have been implicated as a trigger of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in immune-altered mice. We have been investigating how H. hepaticus can circumvent normal protective immune responses and in turn how this leads to the development of IBD in immune-altered mice.

GASTROINTESTINAL MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

The bacterial community of the gut is part of a complex ecosystem. A significant proportion of the members of these bacteria have not been cultured to date in the laboratory, preventing understanding of the complete diversity of this ecosystem. The advent of culture-independent methods to examine the ecology of this community has provided insight into the role it plays in various disease processes. We have investigated the role the gut microbial community plays in the development of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in humans. We are also defining the changes in the GI microbiota related to H. hepaticus-induced IBD and determining if probiotic organisms exert their beneficial effect via changes in the gut microbiota.

Recent Publications

Chang JY, Antonopoulos DA, Kalra A, Tonelli A, Khalife WT, Schmidt TM, Young VB. Decreased diversity of the fecal microbiome in recurrent Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea. J Infect Dis 197 (3): 435-438, 2008.

Tonelli AR, Khalife WT, Cao M, Young VB. Spherules, hyphae, and air-crescent sign. Am J Med Sci 335 (6): 504-506, 2008.

Eaton KA, Friedman DI, Francis GJ, Tyler JS, Young VB, Haeger J, Abu-Ali G, Whittam TS. Pathogenesis of renal disease due to enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in germ-free mice. Infect Immunity 76 (7): 3054-3063, 2008.

Walk, S.T., and Young, V.B. (2008) Emerging insights into antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Clostridium difficile infection through the lens of microbial ecology. Review Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infect. Dis. vol. 2008, Article ID 125081, 7 pages.

Tran, M.P., Caldwell-McMillan, M., Khalife, W.T., and Young, V.B. (2008) Streptococcus intermedius causing infective endocarditis and abscesses: a report of three cases and review of the literature. BMC Infect. Dis. 8:154.

Antonopoulos DA, Huse SM, Morrison HG, Schmidt TM, Sogin ML, Young VB. Reproducible Community Dynamics of the Gastrointestinal Microbiota following Antibiotic Perturbation. Infect Immunity 77 (6): 2367-2375, 2009.

Garner CD, Antonopoulos DA, Wagner B, Duhamel GE, Keresztes I, Ross DA, Young VB, Altier C. Perturbation of the Small Intestine Microbial Ecology by Streptomycin Alters Pathology in a Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Murine Model of Infection. Infect Immun 77 (7): 2691-2702, 2009.

Harris L, Senagore P, Young VB, McCabe LR. Inflammatory bowel disease causes reversible suppression of osteoblast and chondrocyte function in mice. Am J Physiol-Gastrointest Liver Physiol 296 (5): G1020-G1029, 2009.

Chick DA, Friedman HP, Young VB, Solomon D. Relationship Between COMLEX and USMLE Scores Among Osteopathic Medical Students who Take Both Examinations. Teach Learn Med  22 (1): 3-7, 2010.

Hao YB, Senn T, Opp JS, Young VB, Thiele T, Srinivas G, Huang SK, Aronoff DM. Lethal toxin is a critical determinant of rapid mortality in rodent models of Clostridium sordellii endometritis. Anaerobe 16 (2): 155-160, 2010.

Chick DA, Friedman HP, Young VB, Solomon D. Relationship Between COMLEX and USMLE Scores Among Osteopathic Medical Students Who Take Both Examinations (vol 22, pg 3, 2010). Teach Learn Med 22 (2): 165-165, 2010.

Robinson CJ, Bohannan BJM, Young VB. From Structure to Function: the Ecology of Host-Associated Microbial Communities. Microbiol and Molec Biol Rev 74 (3): 453-+, 2010.

Chick DA, Friedman HP, Young VB, Soloman D. Untitled Response. Teach Learn Med  22 (4): 326-326, 2010.

Walk ST, Blum AM, Ewing SAS, Weinstock JV, Young VB. Alteration of the Murine Gut Microbiota During Infection with the Parasitic Helminth Heligmosomoides polygyrus. Inflamm Bowel Dis 16 (11): 1841-1849, 2010.

Wang YW, Antonopoulos DA, Zhu XR, Harrell L, Hanan I, Alverdy JC, Meyer F, Musch MW, Young VB, Chang EB. Laser capture microdissection and metagenomic analysis of intact mucosa-associated microbial communities of human colon. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 88 (6): 1333-1342, 2010.

Dave M, Johnson LA, Walk ST, Young VB, Stidham RW, Chaudhary MN, FunNell J, Higgins PDR. A randomised trial of sheathed versus standard forceps for obtaining uncontaminated biopsy specimens of microbiota from the terminal ileum. Gut eFIRST date: 14 FEB 2011.

Nagalingam NA, Kao JY, Young VB. Microbial Ecology of the Murine Gut Associated with the Development of Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colitis. Inflamm Bowel Dis 17 (4): 917-926, 2011.

Eaton KA, Opp JS, Gray BM, Bergin IL, Young VB. Ulcerative Typhlocolitis Associated With Helicobacter mastomyrinus in Telomerase-Deficient Mice. Vet Pathol 48 (3): 713-725, 2011.

Dave M, Johnson LA, Walk ST, Young VB, Stidham RW, Chaudhary MN, FunNell J, Higgins PDR. A randomised trial of sheathed versus standard forceps for obtaining uncontaminated biopsy specimens of microbiota from the terminal ileum. Gut 60 (8): 1043-1049, 2011.

Zhao JC, Li J, Schloss PD, Kalikin LM, Raymond TA, Petrosino JF, Young VB, LiPuma JJ. Effect of Sample Storage Conditions on Culture-Independent Bacterial Community Measures in Cystic Fibrosis Sputum Specimens. J Clin Microbiol 49 (10): 3717-3718, 2011.

Walk ST, Jain R, Trivedi I, Grossman S, Newton DW, Thelen T, Hao YB, Songer JG, Carter GP, Lyras D, Young VB, Aronoff DM. Non-toxigenic Clostridium sordellii: Clinical and microbiological features of a case of cholangitis-associated bacteremia. Anaerobe 17 (5): 252-256, 2011.

Young VB. The intestinal microbiota in health and disease. Curr Opin Gastroenterol 28 (1):63-69, 2012.

Mason KL, Downward JRE, Falkowski NR, Young VB, Kao JY, Huffnagle GB. Interplay between the Gastric Bacterial Microbiota and Candida albicans during Postantibiotic Recolonization and Gastritis. Infection Immunity 80 (1):150-158, 2012.