1. Dissection of the gut microbiota in mothers and children with chronic Trichuris trichiura infection in Pemba Island, Tanzania
- Author
-
Cristina Miceli, Hong-Liang Chen, Elisa Pierella, Shaali M. Ame, Said M. Ali, Matteo Mozzicafreddo, Angela Piersanti, Vanessa Carletti, and Chun-Feng Wang
- Subjects
Adult ,0301 basic medicine ,Neglected tropical disease ,030231 tropical medicine ,Mothers ,Gut microbiota ,Drug resistance ,Biology ,Gut flora ,medicine.disease_cause ,Tanzania ,lcsh:Infectious and parasitic diseases ,Microbiology ,Feces ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Helminths ,lcsh:RC109-216 ,Trichuriasis ,16S rRNA ,Soil-transmitted helminthiases ,Islands ,Bacteria ,Research ,Campylobacter ,Infant ,Middle Aged ,Fatty Acids, Volatile ,biology.organism_classification ,Gastrointestinal Microbiome ,Trichuris ,030104 developmental biology ,Infectious Diseases ,Parasitology ,Child, Preschool ,Chronic Disease ,Neglected tropical diseases ,Carbohydrate Metabolism ,Trichuris trichiura ,Female - Abstract
Background Soil-transmitted helminthiases are important neglected tropical diseases that result in a notably high number of disability-adjusted life years worldwide. Characterizing the interactions between the human intestinal microbiome and helminths is of interest in the development of alternative treatments that do not rely on chemotherapeutics and do not lead to drug resistance. Methods We recruited and obtained fecal samples from 32 pairs of mothers and children on Pemba Island and monitored their intestinal microbiota using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results We observed that microbial changes occur in the gut microbiota of infected mothers and children. Some short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria and carbohydrate-degrading bacteria exhibited lower abundance in the infected individuals. Potentially pathogenic Campylobacter and proinflammatory Methanobrevibacter in infected mothers and opportunistic Enterococcus in infected children exhibited greater abundance. Conclusions Our findings could reveal the microbiota profiling in T. trichiura-infected individuals, indicate the potential roles of key microbiota in the host and aid to the development of novel strategies to control T. trichiura infection. Graphical Abstract
- Published
- 2021