Baobab Index

Growing evidence implicates the gut-brain axis in Alzheimer's disease (AD), with gut microbiome dysbiosis proposed to modulate neuroinflammation, amyloid pathology, and cognitive decline. To systematically synthesize human studies (2021-2025) profiling gut microbiomes in AD; identify consistent taxonomic and functional signatures; map geographic study distribution; and highlight translational gaps. A PRISMA-compliant systematic review of human studies using 16S rRNA, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, or fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT)/probiotic designs was conducted. Two reviewers screened studies and assessed quality using Joanna Briggs Institute tools. Owing to heterogeneity, findings were narratively synthesized across microbiome diversity, taxonomy, function, metabolism, oral-brain links, causality, interventions, and predictive analyses. Thirty-seven studies, mainly from Asia with some from Europe, North America, and Africa, revealed consistent gut dysbiosis in AD. Findings show reduced alpha-diversity, loss of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria (e.g., Current evidence suggests a biologically plausible association between gut microbiota and AD pathogenesis, positioning microbiome-derived biomarkers and interventions as promising but still exploratory avenues. Harmonized, longitudinal, multi-omic, and geographically inclusive studies are urgently needed to clarify causal mechanisms and translate these correlational findings into validated diagnostics and therapeutics.

Waardenburg-Shah syndrome (WSS) is a rare congenital disorder characterized by the coexistence of Waardenburg syndrome features and Hirschsprung disease. It results from abnormal neural crest cell migration, leading to variable inheritance patterns and diverse phenotypic presentations. We report a 13-day-old Somali neonate admitted with abdominal distension, bilious vomiting, poor feeding, and fever since birth. Physical examination revealed sharply demarcated hypopigmented patches on the chest and face, bilateral blue irides, and craniofacial dysmorphism. Automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) screening indicated bilateral "refer" outcomes, suggesting sensorineural hearing impairment. Abdominal imaging suggested Hirschsprung disease, and laparotomy revealed long-segment aganglionosis with ganglion cells preserved only in the ileum. Sequential biopsies confirmed absence of ganglion cells in the appendix and sigmoid colon. The patient underwent prophylactic appendectomy, creation of a loop ileostomy, and later definitive repair using the modified extended Duhamel procedure-a pull-through technique that combines a retrorectal pathway with side-to-side anastomosis to bypass the aganglionic segment while preserving continence. She recovered well and was discharged on postoperative day twelve. Diagnosis of WSS relies on recognizing the coexistence of pigmentary abnormalities, auditory impairment, and intestinal aganglionosis. Clinical presentation varies depending on the length of the aganglionic segment, ranging from late-onset constipation in short-segment cases to neonatal intestinal obstruction in long-segment disease. Management requires a multidisciplinary approach, including early hearing evaluation, dermatologic assessment, and surgical correction tailored to disease extent. In low-resource settings without access to genetic testing, clinical evaluation and histopathology remain crucial for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges and multidisciplinary care required for Waardenburg-Shah syndrome in a resource-limited environment. Early recognition of characteristic features, supported by timely surgical intervention and coordinated care, is essential for optimizing outcomes in affected neonates.

The persistence of human rabies transmitted by dogs in informal urban settings poses a significant challenge to global health. Although almost always fatal but completely preventable, the disease disproportionately affects marginalized populations. This suggests that the limitations in rabies elimination are not only biological but also reflect spatial, infrastructural, and governance determinants specific to informal settlements. To develop a conceptual framework integrating urban planning, the One Health approach, and rabies epidemiology to understand why existing biomedical strategies are less effective in informal settings and to identify spatial factors useful for more sustainable elimination strategies. An interdisciplinary conceptual research approach was adopted, synthesizing evidence from rabies epidemiology, One Health governance, and urban planning. The analysis focused on how spatial and infrastructural determinants influence the effectiveness of rabies control interventions at the neighborhood level. Rabies is treated as an urban-structural phenomenon, linking urban spatial configurations to dog ecology, human exposure, and access to prevention. The RABIES-SAFE SETTLEMENT framework integrates these dimensions through a micro-territorial One Health perspective, highlighting the role of urban planning as an upstream factor that can influence the performance of established biomedical interventions. Progress toward rabies elimination is influenced not only by the availability of effective biomedical tools, but also by the material and spatial characteristics of urban settlements. Integrating urban planning considerations into One Health approaches can promote more equitable and sustainable reductions in human rabies transmitted by dogs, especially in informal communities.

Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV) is an emerging respiratory pathogen associated with significant morbidity, particularly among young children, older adults, and immunocompromised individuals. Although clinically relevant, it remains underrecognized relative to influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Recent regional outbreaks, including the January 2025 surge in northern China, highlight hMPV's capacity to cause significant above-seasonal transmission events, particularly in settings with immunity debt following prolonged non-pharmaceutical interventions. This review synthesizes current knowledge on hMPV epidemiology, genetic diversity, transmission dynamics, pathogenesis, host immune interactions, diagnostic approaches, and therapeutic and vaccine development efforts. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect with no publication date restriction, using MeSH and free-text terms including "hMPV," "epidemiology," "immune response," "diagnosis," "treatment," and "pandemic preparedness." Relevant reference lists were hand-searched to identify additional studies. Eligible articles included molecular, clinical, observational, and epidemiological studies; case reports and commentaries were excluded unless they provided unique outbreak insights. Findings emphasize that hMPV represents a growing public health concern due to limited awareness, diagnostic overlap with other viral pathogens, and the absence of targeted therapeutics or licensed vaccines. Strengthened surveillance, improved diagnostic capacity, and accelerated research into immunopathogenesis and vaccine platforms are urgently needed. Integrating hMPV into regional outbreak preparedness frameworks rather than pandemic-level frameworks applicable to influenza or SARS-CoV-2 while fostering collaborative research and proportionate public health communication, is essential to mitigate its future impact.

This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of genomic prediction for carcass traits, specifically carcass weight (CWT), eye muscle area (EMA), backfat thickness (BF), and marbling score (MS) in Jeju Black Cattle (JBC) using a single-trait animal model and to compare the results with those obtained using Korean Hanwoo reference populations. The dataset comprised genotypes and phenotypes from 19,153 Hanwoo steers, 6,200 Hanwoo cows, 676 JBC steers, and 654 JBC cows, genotyped using Illumina 50K and Affymetrix 160K SNP chips. The entire population was divided into three groups. In Group 1, Hanwoo steers served as the reference population, whereas JBC steers and cows as the testing population (HSJB). Group 2 expanded the reference population by including both Hanwoo steers and cows, with the same JBC testing set (HAJB). In Group 3, JBC were used only as the reference population (JBJB). The single-trait genomic best linear unbiased prediction analysis was performed using ASReml SA-4.2 software. In HSJB, theoretical accuracies (ACCT) ranged from 0.47 to 0.53, while realized accuracies (ACCR) for the total population were 0.23 (CWT), 0.22 (EMA), 0.28 (BF), and 0.53 (MS). For JBC, ACCR ranged from 0.12 to 0.54 in cows and from 0.28 to 0.58 in steers. In Group 2, ACCT improved to 0.48-0.55, with ACCR of 0.25 (CWT), 0.37 (EMA), 0.28 (BF), and 0.47 (MS) in the total population. JBC cows had values between 0.27 to 0.31, while steers from 0.26 to 0.51 across various traits. JBJB showed the highest ACCT values of 0.50-0.54, with ACCR values of 0.46 (CWT), 0.65 (EMA), 0.38 (BF), and 0.55 (MS). The results indicate that the highest accuracies were obtained in Group 3, where JBC used only as a reference population. Therefore, to increase the prediction accuracy of JBC, it is essential to have breed-specific large populations.

The rapid emergence and global dissemination of antimicrobial resistance pose a serious threat to public health, environmental sustainability, and economic development. Central to this crisis is the resistome, defined as the collection of all antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) present in pathogenic and non-pathogenic micro-organisms across clinical, agricultural, and natural ecosystems. The environmental resistome plays a crucial role in the evolution and transmission of resistance, serving as both a reservoir and a conduit for ARG exchange through horizontal gene transfer. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the structure, diversity, and dynamics of the resistome, with emphasis on the interconnected water-soil-air continuum. Key mechanisms driving resistome dissemination, including mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, integrons, transposons, and bacteriophages, are discussed alongside the major routes of gene transfer, conjugation, transformation, and transduction. The review highlights anthropogenic drivers that intensify resistome expansion, including antibiotic misuse, wastewater discharge, agricultural runoff, and exposure to heavy metals, pesticides, and disinfectants, which promote co-selection. Advances in resistome profiling approaches, such as quantitative PCR, metagenomics, long-read sequencing, and functional metagenomics, are critically evaluated for their capacity to resolve ARG diversity, mobility, and host associations.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant threat to global healthcare systems in terms of poor clinical outcomes, reduced quality of life and economic burdens. It is therefore imperative to comprehend the impact of all One Health domains, such as humans, livestock, agriculture and ecosystems in the fight against AMR. This narrative review therefore aims to highlight the resistance mechanisms, AMR global burden and its contributing factors. Additionally, this review identifies currently existing information gaps, monitoring parameters and global AMR mitigation strategies. A structured literature search was conducted across multiple electronic databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar to identify relevant peer-reviewed studies on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The search included articles published in English between January 2013 and January 2025. Additional references were identified through manual screening of reference lists and relevant global reports from organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS). Studies were eligible for inclusion if they addressed AMR in human health, animal health, agriculture, food systems and environmental settings within a One Health framework with particular emphasis on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as classified by the World Bank. Articles focusing on AMR mechanisms, transmission pathways, surveillance systems, AMS, environmental dissemination, and public health consequences were considered for inclusion. The review narrative identified five major themes: global AMR burden, resistance mechanisms, cross-sectoral drivers, surveillance gaps, and stewardship responses. Globally, AMR was linked to 4.95 million deaths in 2019, with 3.57 million deaths directly attributable to drug-resistant infections. The major pathogens included AMR is a multifaceted One Health challenge that requires urgent and integrated efforts to be mitigated. Strengthening integrated One Health surveillance, AMS, wastewater monitoring, and LMIC laboratory capacity should become immediate global policy priorities. Without immediate and sustained interventions, AMR threatens to reverse decades of medical progress and compromise the achievement of global health objectives. AMR is spreading globally due to irrational (un-judicious) antimicrobial use, cross-sectoral contamination, and the genetic exchange of resistance determinants among bacterial populations. Resistance gene transfer, particularly via horizontal mechanisms, is most pronounced where human, livestock, and environmental (One Health) interfaces overlap.

The African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) is a Pan-African initiative aimed at improving food systems and biodiversity conservation through genomics while ensuring equitable data sharing and benefits. The Open Institute is the knowledge exchange platform of the AfricaBP, which aims to bridge local knowledge gaps in biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics and enable infrastructural developments. In 2024, the AfricaBP Open Institute advanced this mission by organizing 31 workshops that attracted more than 3500 registered attendees across 50 African countries, provided training to 401 African researchers in genomics, bioinformatics, molecular biology, sample collections and biobanking, and ethical considerations, across all five African geographical regions involving 40 African and non-African organizations. These workshops provide insights on applications of biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics to the African bioeconomy, as well as hands-on training in sample collection and processing, genomics, bioinformatics, molecular biology, and gene editing. Here, we provide the current understanding of the applications of biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics to the African bioeconomy through synthetic reviews and presentations, including descriptions of 31 workshops organized as well as three fellowship programs delivered or launched by the AfricaBP Open Institute in collaboration with African and international institutions and industry partners. We review the current national bioeconomy strategies across Africa and the economic impact of sequencing African genomes locally, illustrated by a case study on the proposed 1000 Moroccan Genome Project. Key recommendations include integrating biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics into national bioeconomy strategies, leveraging genomics for sustainable bioeconomy growth, and expanding capacity-building initiatives across Africa.

The Earth Hologenome Initiative (EHI) is a global endeavor dedicated to revisit fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions from the systemic host-microbiota perspective, through the standardized generation and analysis of joint animal genomic and associated microbial metagenomic data. The first data release of the EHI contains 968 shotgun DNA sequencing read files containing 5.2 TB of raw genomic and metagenomic data derived from 21 vertebrate species sampled across 12 countries, as well as 17,666 metagenome-assembled genomes reconstructed from these data. The dataset can be used to address fundamental questions about host-microbiota interactions and will be available to the research community under the EHI data usage conditions.