41 results about "Bacteroides" patented technology

The invention discloses an intestinal bacterial composition for improving a cognitive function and relieving neuroinflammation and an application of the intestinal bacterial composition, and belongs to the technical field of biomedicine and microbiology, the intestinal bacterial composition is composed of a Lachnospiraceae bacterium, a Bacteroides multiforme and a Roseburiatestinae bacterium, and the intestinal bacterial composition is prepared from the following raw materials of the following raw materials of the intestinal bacterial composition: the Lachnospiraceae bacterium, the Bacteroides multiforme and the Roseburiatestinae bacterium, the Roseburiatestinae bacterium, the Roseburiatestinae bacterium, the Roseburiatestinae bacterium, the Roseburiatestinae bacterium, the Roseburiatestinae bacterium and the like. Experimental research results show that a modular synergistic effect exists among the helicobacter hirsuticus, the bacteroides multiforme and the Roche enterobacter, and the pharmaceutical composition has a remarkable neuroprotective effect on a cognitive impairment mouse model and an Alzheimer disease mouse model, can improve the cognitive function and relieve neuroinflammation, and can be used for preparing a neuroprotective agent for treating the cognitive impairment mouse model and the Alzheimer disease mouse model. A new thought and method can be provided for treatment of cognitive impairment related diseases and neuroinflammation related diseases.

The invention discloses a bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis BA-C53 and an application of the bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis BA-C53 in products for improving bone health. The bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis BA-C53 is classified and named as bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis BA-C53, the preservation number is CCTCC NO: M 2024460, the preservation unit is China Center for Type Culture Collection, and the preservation time is March 11, 2024. The bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis BA-C53 can effectively improve the steady state of intestinal flora of a mouse with osteoporosis induced by estrogen deficiency, so that the relative abundance of phylum firmicalis and phylum actinomycetes is increased, the relative abundance of phylum bacteroides is reduced, and then short-chain fatty acid is generated to activate intestinal immunity and maintain the integrity of an intestinal barrier, so that the osteoporosis caused by estrogen deficiency is inhibited. Meanwhile, osteoclast differentiation can be inhibited by regulating NFATC1, RANKL and OPG pathways, then osteoporosis is relieved, and the compound can be widely applied to preparation of food and drugs.

The embodiment of the invention discloses application of lactobacillus delbrueckii. The application is characterized in that the lactobacillus delbrueckii is applied to inhibition of mesophilic aerobic bacteria, saccharomycetes, mould and coliform bacteria. The lactobacillus delbrueckii has a preservation number of CGMCC No.11247. In the lactobacillus delbrueckii activating process, bacteriocin can be generated and can remarkably inhibit the mesophilic aerobic bacteria, saccharomycetes, mould and coliform bacteria on the surfaces of fruits and vegetables, so that the preservation effect of thefruits and vegetables can be improved. Furthermore, secondary metabolites of the lactobacillus delbrueckii can be biodegraded and digested by human bodies, and are healthy and harmless to human bodies.

The invention provides a preparation method of an apple water kefir beverage and application of the apple water kefir beverage in lowering cholesterol. The method comprises the following steps: preparing apple juice, activating water kefir grains, inoculating the activated water kefir grains into the apple juice, and fermenting to prepare the apple water kefir beverage. The volatile component change in the fermentation process is analyzed through GC-MS and GC-IMS systems, it is proved that the unique bouquet characteristic and flavor coordination of the apple water kefir beverage are improved through water kefir grain fermentation, and meanwhile the organic acid composition is optimized. A mouse model verifies that the apple water kefir beverage has the effect of reducing cholesterol, can reduce liver lipid droplets, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and triglyceride levels, and also can regulate intestinal microbial communities (increase firmicobacteria, bacteroides and faecalis bacteria). The apple water kefir beverage disclosed by the invention has wide market potential and provides a scientific basis for the development of functional beverages.

The invention discloses a Lactobacillus paracasei-composite prebiotic compound preparation, a preparation method and application thereof, and belongs to the technical field of microbial preparations. The compound preparation is prepared from the lactobacillus paracasei PC-92 and compound prebiotics in an optimized compatibility mode, the compound prebiotics are composed of trehalose, inulin and fructo-oligosaccharide, and the adding amount of the compound prebiotics is as follows: 1.959% of the trehalose, 1.029% of the inulin and 1.582% of the fructo-oligosaccharide. According to the casei paracasei-composite prebiotic compound preparation, the preparation method and the application thereof, the compound preparation can remarkably improve intestinal flora disorder of mice with the ulcerative colitis induced by DSS, adjust abundance of key flora such as lactobacillus and bacteroides, reduce disease activity indexes, maintain intestinal microecological balance and improve the intestinal immunity of the mice. The method can be applied to the field of functional food, health care products or medicines, and provides a new scheme for intestinal health intervention.

The application discloses a method for identifying direct discharge of domestic sewage and application thereof. The method comprises the following steps: detecting the copy number concentration of bacteriophage marker genes and Bacteroides marker genes of adjacent two days of a water body to be detected respectively, calculating the ratio of the copy number concentration of the bacteriophage marker genes and the copy number concentration of the Bacteroides marker genes per day, and calculating the ratio between the two days of the water body to be detected, and combining a specific ratio threshold to determine whether the direct discharge of domestic sewage appears in the water body to be detected, and the day when the direct discharge of domestic sewage appears can be accurately determined, so that the direct discharge of domestic sewage can be traced and controlled; wherein the bacteriophage marker gene is CPQ_064, and the Bacteroides marker gene is BacHum, BacH, HuBac and / or HF183.

The invention discloses a kit for detecting intestinal core bacteria by a TaqMan real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) method, and belongs to the technical field of kits. The kit disclosed by the invention comprises standard positive templates of nine common intestinal core bacteria and nine groups of specific primers and probes which are required in a PCR amplification process and correspond to the standard positive templates. The kit disclosed by the invention is simple, convenient and rapid to operate; the specificity is good and the sensitivity is high; complicated raw information data analysis does not need to be carried out; the intestinal core bacteria can be detected and quantified without high-throughput sequencing, and three bacteria can be detected in one reaction hole, so that the cost is greatly reduced. The kit provided by the invention can be used for rapidly and quantitatively detecting nine intestinal core bacteria including bifidobacterium, lactobacillus, prevotella, bacteroides and the like, can partially replace a high-throughput detection method which is higher in cost and more complicated to operate according to research and diagnosis purposes, and is suitable for being widely popularized in clinical detection and laboratory research.

Engineered Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt) strains, including deletion mutant strains, and methods of use thereof are provided. Methods of delivering a therapeutic compound to a gut microbiome of a subject include generating an engineered Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt) strain to overproduce outer membrane vesicles (OMVs); loading a target therapeutic compound into the OMVs; and colonizing the gut microbiome of the subject with the engineered Bt strain. In some embodiments, the subject has at least one of lactose intolerance, phenylketonuria, inflammatory bowel disease, and a chronic intestinal condition.

This invention, entitled "A Composition Containing Pentadecanoic Acid, Parabacterium Species Outer Membrane Vesicles Containing the Composition, and Their Applications," belongs to the field of probiotics and microbial preparations technology. The technical problem this invention aims to solve is that beneficial live bacteria have weak colonization ability in the gut, are easily affected by the gastrointestinal environment, exhibit unstable individual responses, and struggle to simultaneously address immune regulation and barrier repair. This invention provides a composition containing pentadecanoic acid, Parabacterium Species-derived outer membrane vesicles, and their applications. The outer membrane vesicles are derived from *Parabacterium difficile* and are rich in pentadecanoic acid, palmitic acid, and octadecanoic acid. The composition and outer membrane vesicles prepared by this invention can significantly inhibit macrophage M1 polarization and reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines. TNF-α , IL-6 and IL-1 β It can lower the expression level of [something], reduce intracellular reactive oxygen species levels, improve mitochondrial function, significantly alleviate symptoms of colitis induced by sodium dextran sulfate, regulate the intestinal flora structure, and increase the abundance of beneficial bacteria.

This invention belongs to the field of intestinal microbiome technology, and particularly relates to the application of a capsular polysaccharide derived from Bacteroides Salilsii CSP6 in the treatment and / or prevention of inflammatory bowel disease. The Bacteroides Salilsii strain is... Bacteroides salyersiae CSP6. This strain was isolated from the intestine of healthy humans and deposited at the China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC), accession number CCTCC NO: M 20221993. In vivo experiments showed that the capsular polysaccharide derived from Bacteroides Salieris CSP6 can protect the colorectal mucosa from damage and promote the repair of damaged intestinal mucosa, thereby improving symptoms such as loose stools, rectal bleeding, and shortened colon and rectum, reducing weight loss caused by intestinal damage and inflammation, and ultimately exerting a therapeutic effect on inflammatory bowel disease.

The invention discloses an application of premna microphylla pectin in preparation of a product for preventing and improving diet-induced obesity. The premna pubescens pectin is prepared from premna pubescens leaves as a raw material through extraction, purification and other processes. According to the present invention, the research on the high fat diet induced obese mouse model finds that the body lipid metabolism is regulated by remodeling the intestinal flora structure, particularly reducing the ratio of the phylum firmicutes to the phylum bacteroides, and specifically enriching the beneficial flora such as Muribacaceae and the like by using the premna microphylla pectin; experimental results prove that the premna microphylla pectin can significantly inhibit pathological hypertrophy of adipocytes, reduce visceral fat accumulation, effectively control weight gain and improve dyslipidemia and liver fatty degeneration, and has good biological safety.

To find out a useful living body-regulating function in a treated product of Abelmoschus manihot and to provide a functional use thereof.SOLUTION: An intestinal environment-improving agent comprising a processed product of Abutilon striata as an active ingredient, wherein the intestinal environment-improving agent increases bacteria of the genus Lactobacillusmurinus and / or the genus Parabacteroides.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

The application discloses Bacteroides multipara and application thereof for relieving metabolic dysfunction related fatty liver disease, and belongs to the technical field of microorganisms. Phocaeicola dorei The Bacteroides multipara N02 can inhibit the increase of liver and the increase of liver weight / body weight of a mouse with metabolic dysfunction related fatty liver disease without affecting the food intake, can regulate the lipid metabolism disorder of the mouse with metabolic dysfunction related fatty liver disease and relieve the liver tissue damage, and can improve the intestinal barrier function of the mouse with metabolic dysfunction related fatty liver disease. The Bacteroides multipara N02 has a very wide application prospect when used for preparing a medicine composition for relieving metabolic dysfunction related fatty liver disease and a fermented food.

Methods and compositions comprising recombinant fusion polypeptides that are engineered to allow for heterologous cargo secretion from a Bacteroides cell, into an extracellular environment are provided. Provided methods and compositions include recombinant fusion polypeptides comprising a secretion domain and a heterologous cargo domain. Methods and compositions for using said recombinant fusion polypeptides, e.g., for the treatment of a disease and / or disorder, are also provided.

The invention discloses a preparation method of a ficus microcarpa extract and application of the ficus microcarpa extract in intestinal flora disorder caused by circadian rhythm disorder. Pharmacological experiments prove that the ficus striata flavone has a remarkable regulating effect in a circadian rhythm disorder injury model: the ficus striata flavone can be used for effectively solving the problems that the diversity of intestinal flora is reduced, the excessive propagation of firmictures, the expression of Bacteroidetes is reduced and the like, which are caused by circadian rhythm disorder, and can be used for preventing and treating the diseases caused by circadian rhythm disorder, so that the ficus striata flavone can be used for preventing and treating the diseases caused by circadian rhythm disorder. Meanwhile, circadian rhythm oscillation of key bacteria such as prevotella, Bacteroides and Clostridium can be adjusted, and increase of the F / B ratio is reduced, so that the rhythm and stability of intestinal flora are improved. The invention simultaneously discloses two preparation processes, namely an ethanol reflux-resin purification method and a water extraction-concentration-alcohol precipitation method, so that the stable quality of the extract is ensured, and the industrial feasibility is realized.

The invention discloses high-activity and thermal-stability PL29 family hyaluronic acid lyase derived from bacteroides and application of the PL29 family hyaluronic acid lyase, and belongs to the technical field of microorganisms. The invention provides the hyaluronic acid lyase BfiHAase derived from Bacteroides pinnatae, the hyaluronic acid lyase BfiHAase has good enzymatic activity and thermal stability, the optimal reaction pH value of the BfiHAase is 6.08, the optimal reaction temperature is 40 DEG C, the hyaluronic acid lyase BfiHAase has high enzyme activity, and the highest enzyme activity under the optimal condition can reach 454.9893 U / mg and exceeds that of most hyaluronic acid lyase. Meanwhile, the enzyme has good thermal stability, can keep more than 90% of activity after being stored at 4 DEG C for 6 hours, and can still keep more than 70% of activity after being stored for one day, which indicates that the enzyme has great industrial application potential.

Abstract:　Problem: To provide a soil-transmissible plant disease control agent or similar that can safely be used as a biological control agent.　Solution: A soil-transmissible plant disease control agent or similar, such as a vegetable bacterial wilt control agent, can be provided by using, as an active ingredient, live bacterial cells of a novel strain of a bacterium of the Bacillus or Fictibacillus genus with a heretofore unknown soil-transmissible plant disease controlling action, or a cultured product including said live bacterial cells. This control agent is characterized by being able, through a foliage application treatment, to control bacterial wilt and / or bacterial soft rot caused by the Ralstonia solanacearum species complex, which are soil-borne bacteria.　Selected drawing: none

The invention belongs to the technical field of functional foods and medicines, and particularly discloses application of L-selenium methyl selenocysteine in preparation of a product for targeted regulation of intestinal flora to relieve chemotherapy immune injury. The target regulation is realized by specifically improving the relative abundance of the beneficial bacteria, namely, Bacteroides acdifaciens, in the intestinal tracts of the subject, so that the relative abundance of the beneficial bacteria, namely the Bacteroides acdifaciens, in the intestinal tracts of the subject is improved. Systematic contrast experiments prove that under the condition of equal selenium content, the selenium-enriched milk powder strengthened by taking L-selenium methyl selenocysteine as a unique selenium source has the effect obviously superior to that of contrast milk powder strengthened by selenium-enriched yeast or sodium selenite in the aspect of relieving immunosuppression, intestinal injury and systemic inflammation caused by cyclophosphamide. The core mechanism of the L-selenium methyl selenocysteine is that the L-selenium methyl selenocysteine can be used for efficiently and specifically enriching Bacteroides acdifaciens, and the L-selenium methyl selenocysteine can be used for efficiently and specifically enriching Bacteroides acdifaciens. Based on the discovery, the invention correspondingly provides a selenium-enriched milk powder product with definite targeting property and excellent effects, and a brand new efficient solution is provided for chemotherapy auxiliary nutrition support of tumor patients.

The present invention provides a technology that can effectively inhibit the proliferation of Bacteroides stercolis and a technology that can enhance sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitors. According to the present invention, the proliferation of Bacteroides stercolis can be inhibited in vivo. Furthermore, according to the present invention, sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitors can be enhanced. This can contribute to improving the response rate or the therapeutic effect of the target disease, and ultimately to improving the quality of life of patients. SOLUTION: A growth inhibitor of Bacteroides stercoli, which contains agarooligosaccharide as an active ingredient.

The invention belongs to the field of environmental engineering and wastewater biological treatment, and particularly relates to an efficient denitrification method based on a VFA-sucrose mixed carbon source and application of the efficient denitrification method. Activated sludge is inoculated in a denitrification device, VFA-cane sugar is used as an external carbon source, a domesticated denitrification microbial system is obtained through periodic modes of water inlet, anoxic reaction, precipitation, drainage and the like, and the system selectively enriches functional bacteria such as bacteroides, geomonas and competitive bacillus. The gene abundance of a substrate transport system (ABC transporter) and a fatty acid metabolic pathway in a microbial community is remarkably enhanced, the nitrate reduction rate is remarkably improved, and the nitrite accumulation amount is controlled at an extremely low level lt; the COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) removal rate is more than 95%, and the method is particularly suitable for deep denitrification treatment of wastewater.

The invention discloses application of intestinal bacteroides and metabolites thereof in treatment of colitis, and belongs to the field of microorganisms. The name of the bacterial strain is Bacteroides intestinae SCAUTCVM001, and the preservation number of the bacterial strain is GDMCC No: 67454. The invention further discloses a preparation method of the bacterial strain. The intestinal bacteroides SCAUTCVM001 disclosed by the invention can be used for metabolizing tryptophan (Trp) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in vivo and in vitro to generate metabolites of yellow uric acid (Xa) and indole-3-formaldehyde (ICA); the mouse colitis can be relieved. Therefore, the intestinal bacteroides and the metabolite of the intestinal bacteroides can relieve mouse colitis, increase expression of colon ZO1 and IgA and treat mouse colitis.

The invention belongs to the technical field of biology, and particularly relates to an antibacterial peptide capable of improving animal intestinal health and resisting diarrhea and a preparation method thereof.The novel antibacterial peptide is prepared, and the amino acid sequence of the novel antibacterial peptide is shown as SEQ ID NO: 1; experiments prove that after the cat is raised in a strange environment for one week, the antibacterial peptide can slightly improve the propionic acid and butyric acid levels of the experimental group cat; and the total BCFAs level of the experimental group before and after transportation is lower than that of the blank group. Although the alpha diversity and the beta diversity between an experimental group fed with the antibacterial peptide and a blank group have no significant difference, the feeding of the antibacterial peptide significantly increases the levels of bacteroides, parabacteroides and paraprevotella in the experimental group, and significantly reduces the levels of harmful bacteria such as salmonella and actinomycetes. Therefore, the antibacterial peptide disclosed by the invention can be used for preparing products for improving animal intestinal health and resisting diarrhea, such as feed additives or oral liquid.

The application discloses an intestinal flora regulator containing unsaturated oligogalacturonic acid and application thereof, and an effective component of the intestinal flora regulator containing unsaturated oligogalacturonic acid comprises lemon unsaturated oligogalacturonic acid with a molecular weight of 80-85 kDa and an unsaturation degree of 7-10. The application finds that the intestinal flora regulator containing unsaturated oligogalacturonic acid has a regulating effect on intestinal flora by simulating an in-vivo environment in vitro and collecting intestinal microorganisms in human feces, including regulating the abundance, structure and diversity of intestinal flora, promoting the proliferation of beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacterium and lactobacillus, and inhibiting the proliferation of escherichia shigella and bacteroides, and can provide help for the development of intestinal disease treatment drugs.

The invention relates to application of fucoidan polysaccharide sulfate in preparation of an inflammation protective agent and an intestinal flora regulator for young muscovy ducks against goose parvovirus infection. The invention provides application of fucoidan polysaccharide sulfate in preparation of a young muscovy duck anti-goose parvovirus infection preparation. The application specifically comprises an anti-inflammatory protective agent for young muscovy ducks against goose parvovirus infection and a flora regulator for repairing and regulating intestinal flora. The protection effect and mechanism of the fucoidan polysaccharide sulfate on the GPV infected young muscovy ducks are explored, and in-vitro and in-vivo experiments are respectively carried out. Results show that medium and high doses of fucoidan polysaccharide sulfate can significantly reduce the content of pro-inflammatory factors in serum and target organs, recover the level of anti-inflammatory factors and relieve tissue inflammatory damage. Microflora analysis results show that medium and high doses of fucoidan polysaccharide sulfate can reverse intestinal flora diversity decline caused by GPV infection, regulate abundance of dominant phylum such as phylum firmicalis and phylum bacteroides, and enrich beneficial bacteria such as Ackermann muciniphila.

The invention discloses an environment-friendly type remains preservative solution based on probiotics, the environment-friendly type remains preservative solution is prepared from 40-60 wt% of living lactobacillus, 10-30 wt% of bacteroides, 6-8 wt% of paracteroides, 5-15 wt% of megamonas, 2-5 wt% of microbacterium foliage and 2-5 wt% of methyl cinnamate, and during use, normal saline with the salt content being 0.03-0.08 wt% of the preservative solution is added into the preservative solution. The preservative does not contain toxic chemical substances such as formaldehyde, can effectively inhibit growth of putrefying bacteria of remains, delays the putrefying process, and solves the problems that the respiratory system, skin and eyes of a worker in a funeral parlor can be seriously damaged due to long-term contact with a chemical preservative solution, and even the risk of suffering from cancers such as leukemia is increased; and meanwhile, the method has the advantages of being environment-friendly, convenient to operate and use, high in adaptability, safe to use, capable of keeping the remains more natural in appearance and the like, and has good social benefits.

The invention discloses a leuconostoc mesenteroides exopolysaccharide for relieving diarrhea by directionally enriching intestinal beneficial bacteria, and belongs to the technical field of microorganisms. The exopolysaccharide is separated and purified from leuconostoc mesenteroides CCFM1516, is acidic heteropolysaccharide, is composed of galactosamine, glucosamine, galactose, glucose, mannose, galacturonic acid and glucuronic acid, is uniform in molecular weight distribution, and contains alpha-glucosidic bonds. The extracellular polysaccharide disclosed by the invention has a targeted regulation effect on intestinal flora, can be used for directionally enriching potential beneficial bacteria such as gParabacteroides, gParasuttera, gBacteroides and the like, can be used for reducing the abundance of a harmful bacterium gEscherichia-Shigiella, and has an important application value.

The application discloses a kind of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase mutant for synthesizing beta-hydroxyisovaleric acid and recombinant strain, biological engineering and enzyme engineering technical field.The wild-type 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase of Bacteroides origin is used as parent in the application, and a series of mutants are constructed by site-directed saturation mutagenesis, wherein the mutant Bb HPPD F242Y / L271L / K231K Compared with the wild-type enzyme, the catalytic activity of the mutant is increased by 57.1%. On this basis, a double-enzyme co-expression strain is constructed, and HMB is efficiently synthesized using L-leucine as a substrate. The yield of HMB is 12.7 g / L, and the molar conversion rate is 70.6%. The process is green and environmentally friendly, the reaction period is short, the strain is easy to scale up in industry, and can be widely used in the large-scale production of beta-hydroxyisovaleric acid and its calcium salt in the fields of sports nutrition, livestock breeding and medicine.

The invention discloses a recombinase combination suitable for bacteroides, application and a homologous recombination method, and belongs to the technical field of microbial genetic engineering. The invention discloses a method for constructing and screening a combination of a single-chain annealing protein and a single-chain binding protein for the first time. A single-chain annealing protein and a single-chain binding protein are jointly constructed in an escherichia coli-bacteroides fragilis shuttle expression vector, and co-expression of the escherichia coli-bacteroides fragilis shuttle expression vector in bacteroides fragilis is achieved, so that the homologous recombination capacity of bacteroides fragilis is remarkably improved. According to the method disclosed by the invention, the homologous recombination efficiency of genome editing of bacteroides fragilis is greatly improved, the absolute editing efficiency of the genome is improved to 0.052% from the original level which is almost undetectable, and the research and application progress of genome engineering of the strain is remarkably promoted.

This invention provides a technology that can effectively suppress the proliferation of Bacteroides stercolis and a technology that can enhance its sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitors. According to this invention, the proliferation of Bacteroides stercolis can be suppressed in vivo. Furthermore, according to this invention, sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitors can be enhanced. This can contribute to improving the response rate, the therapeutic effect of the target disease, and ultimately the quality of life of patients. [Solution] A growth inhibitor for Bacteroides stercolis containing agarooligosaccharide as an active ingredient.

The invention discloses an FMT donor microbial marker related to juvenile depression and application of the FMT donor microbial marker, and belongs to the field of biological medicine. The microbial marker is prepared from one or more of fibrous Holdmann bacteria, lazy desulfurization vibrio, hispiraceae bacteria, regular faecalis coccus, clostridium altaensis and common bacteroides. The invention provides a kit which comprises a detection reagent for detecting the relative abundance of the microbial marker. The invention further provides a product for diagnosing the juvenile depression, a prediction system for evaluating whether the donor to be detected is an efficient donor or an inefficient donor, and a computer program product related to the juvenile depression. The product provided by the invention has good feasibility and accuracy, can effectively distinguish whether a donor to be detected is a high-efficiency donor or a low-efficiency donor, and provides a new tool for clinical diagnosis.