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Helminth colonization is associated with increased diversity of the gut microbiota.

ABSTRACT: Soil-transmitted helminths colonize more than 1.5 billion people worldwide, yet little is known about how they interact with bacterial communities in the gut microbiota. Differences in the gut microbiota between individuals living in developed and developing countries may be partly due to the presence of helminths, since they predominantly infect individuals from developing countries, such as the indigenous communities in Malaysia we examine in this work. We compared the composition and diversity of bacterial communities from the fecal microbiota of 51 people from two villages in Malaysia, of which 36 (70.6%) were infected by helminths. The 16S rRNA V4 region was sequenced at an average of nineteen thousand sequences per samples. Helminth-colonized individuals had greater species richness and number of observed OTUs with enrichment of Paraprevotellaceae, especially with Trichuris infection. We developed a new approach of combining centered log-ratio (clr) transformation for OTU relative abundances with sparse Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (sPLS-DA) to enable more robust predictions of OTU interrelationships. These results suggest that helminths may have an impact on the diversity, bacterial community structure and function of the gut microbiota.

SUBMITTER: Lee SC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4031128 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Helminth colonization is associated with increased diversity of the gut microbiota.

Lee Soo Ching SC Tang Mei San MS Lim Yvonne A L YA Choy Seow Huey SH Kurtz Zachary D ZD Cox Laura M LM Gundra Uma Mahesh UM Cho Ilseung I Bonneau Richard R Blaser Martin J MJ Chua Kek Heng KH Loke P'ng P

PLoS neglected tropical diseases 20140522 5

Soil-transmitted helminths colonize more than 1.5 billion people worldwide, yet little is known about how they interact with bacterial communities in the gut microbiota. Differences in the gut microbiota between individuals living in developed and developing countries may be partly due to the presence of helminths, since they predominantly infect individuals from developing countries, such as the indigenous communities in Malaysia we examine in this work. We compared the composition and diversit ...[more]

PMID: 24851867

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Project description:BackgroundInvestigations of the relationships between the gut microbiota and gastrointestinal parasitic nematodes are attracting growing interest by the scientific community, driven by the need to better understand the contribution of parasite-associated changes in the composition of the gut flora to both host malnutrition and immune modulation. These studies have however been carried out mainly in humans and experimental animals, while knowledge of the make-up of the gut commensal flora in presence or absence of infection by parasitic nematodes in domestic animals is limited. In this study, we investigate the qualitative and quantitative impact that infections by a widespread parasite of cats (i.e. Toxocara cati) exert on the gut microbiota of feline hosts.MethodsThe faecal microbiota of cats with patent infection by T. cati (= Tc+), as well as that of negative controls (= Tc-) was examined via high-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, followed by bioinformatics and biostatistical analyses of sequence data.ResultsA total of 2,325,366 useable high-quality sequences were generated from the faecal samples analysed in this study and subjected to further bioinformatics analyses, which led to the identification of 128 OTUs and nine bacterial phyla, respectively. The phylum Firmicutes was predominant in all samples analysed (mean of 53.0%), followed by the phyla Proteobacteria (13.8%), Actinobacteria (13.7%) and Bacteroidetes (10.1%). Among others, bacteria of the order Lactobacillales, the family Enterococcaceae and genera Enterococcus and Dorea showed a trend towards increased abundance in Tc+ compared with Tc- samples, while no significant differences in OTU richness and diversity were recorded between Tc+ and Tc- samples (P = 0.485 and P = 0.581, respectively). However, Canonical Correlation and Redundancy Analyses were able to separate samples by infection status (P = 0.030 and P = 0.015, respectively), which suggests a correlation between the latter and the composition of the feline faecal microbiota.ConclusionsIn spite of the relatively small number of samples analysed, subtle differences in the composition of the gut microbiota of Tc+ vs Tc- cats could be identified, some of which in accordance with current data from humans and laboratory animal hosts. Nevertheless, the findings from this study contribute valuable knowledge to the yet little explored area of parasite-microbiota interactions in domestic animals.

Project description:Diarrheal disease, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in dairy calves, is strongly associated with the health and composition of the gut microbiota. Clostridioides difficile is an opportunistic pathogen that proliferates and can produce enterotoxins when the host experiences gut dysbiosis. However, even asymptomatic colonization with C. difficile can be associated with differing degrees of microbiota disruption in a range of species, including people, swine, and dogs. Little is known about the interaction between C. difficile and the gut microbiota in dairy calves. In this study, we sought to define microbial features associated with C. difficile colonization in pre-weaned dairy calves less than 2 weeks of age. We characterized the fecal microbiota of 80 calves from 23 different farms using 16S rRNA sequencing and compared the microbiota of C. difficile-positive (n = 24) and C. difficile-negative calves (n = 56). Farm appeared to be the greatest source of variability in the gut microbiota. When controlling for calf age, diet, and farm location, there was no significant difference in Shannon alpha diversity (P = 0.50) or in weighted UniFrac beta diversity (P = 0.19) between C. difficile-positive and-negative calves. However, there was a significant difference in beta diversity as assessed using Bray-Curtiss diversity (P = 0.0077), and C. difficile-positive calves had significantly increased levels of Ruminococcus (gnavus group) (Adj. P = 0.052), Lachnoclostridium (Adj. P = 0.060), Butyricicoccus (Adj. P = 0.060), and Clostridium sensu stricto 2 compared to C. difficile-negative calves. Additionally, C. difficile-positive calves had fewer microbial co-occurrences than C. difficile-negative calves, indicating reduced bacterial synergies. Thus, while C. difficile colonization alone is not associated with dysbiosis and is therefore unlikely to result in an increased likelihood of diarrhea in dairy calves, it may be associated with a more disrupted microbiota.

Project description:BackgroundPrevious reports show altered gut bacterial profiles are associated with helminth infected individuals. Our recently published molecular survey of clinical helminthiases in Thailand border regions demonstrated a more comprehensive picture of infection prevalence when Kato Katz microscopy and copro-qPCR diagnostics were combined. We revealed that Opisthorchis viverrini, hookworm, Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura were the most predominant helminth infections in these regions. In the current study, we have profiled the faecal and saliva microbiota of a subset of these helminth infected participants, in order to determine if microbial changes are associated with parasite infection.MethodsA subset of 66 faecal samples from Adisakwattana et al., (2020) were characterised for bacterial diversity using 16S rRNA gene profiling. Of these samples a subset of 24 participant matched saliva samples were also profiled for microbiota diversity. Sequence data were compiled, OTUs assigned, and diversity and abundance analysed using the statistical software Calypso.ResultsThe data reported here indicate that helminth infections impact on both the host gut and oral microbiota. The profiles of faecal and saliva samples, irrespective of the infection status, were considerably different from each other, with more alpha diversity associated with saliva (p-value≤ 0.0015). Helminth infection influenced the faecal microbiota with respect to specific taxa, but not overall microbial alpha diversity. Conversely, helminth infection was associated with increased saliva microbiota alpha diversity (Chao 1 diversity indices) at both the genus (p-value = 0.042) and phylum (p-value = 0.026) taxa levels, compared to uninfected individuals. Elevated individual taxa in infected individuals saliva were noted at the genus and family levels. Since Opisthorchis viverrini infections as a prominent health concern to Thailand, this pathogen was examined separately to other helminths infections present. Individuals with an O. viverrini mono-infection displayed both increases and decreases in genera present in their faecal microbiota, while increases in three families and one order were also observed in these samples.DiscussionIn this study, helminth infections appear to alter the abundance of specific faecal bacterial taxa, but do not impact on overall bacterial alpha or beta diversity. In addition, the faecal microbiota of O. viverrini only infected individuals differed from that of other helminth single and dual infections. Saliva microbiota analyses of individuals harbouring active helminth infections presented increased levels of both bacterial alpha diversity and abundance of individual taxa. Our data demonstrate that microbial change is associated with helminthiases in endemic regions of Thailand, and that this is reflected in both faecal and saliva microbiota. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an altered saliva microbiota in helminth infected individuals. This work may provide new avenues for improved diagnostics; and an enhanced understanding of both helminth infection pathology and the interplay between helminths, bacteria and their host.

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Helminth colonization is associated with increased diversity of the gut microbiota.

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Helminth colonization is associated with increased diversity of the gut microbiota.

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