Patent human infections with the whipworm, Trichuris trichiura, are not associated with alterations in the faecal microbiota.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The soil-transmitted helminth (STH), Trichuris trichiura colonises the human large intestine where it may modify inflammatory responses, an effect possibly mediated through alterations in the intestinal microbiota. We hypothesised that patent T. trichiura infections would be associated with altered faecal microbiota and that anthelmintic treatment would induce a microbiota resembling more closely that observed in uninfected individuals.

Materials and methods

School children in Ecuador were screened for STH infections and allocated to 3 groups: uninfected, T. trichiura only, and mixed infections with T. trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides. A sample of uninfected children and those with T. trichiura infections only were given anthelmintic treatment. Bacterial communi

SUBMITTER: Cooper P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3790696 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature