Evaluating the effect of chronic schistosomiasis on the gut microbiome at the species level

Abstract

Abstract Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by the trematode helminth Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni). Schistosomiasis infection, which is caused by parasitic worms, is a globally important parasitic disease, second only to malaria in its devastation. There is growing evidence that, by shifting the TH1 and TH2 responses, helminth infections can adversely affect the immune system and one expected way is by perturbing the gut microbiota. However, little is known about the effects of chronic schistosomiasis on the composition of the gut microbiota of its mammalian host. Therefore, we collected fresh fecal samples from BALB/c mice (n=3) during the 10 weeks necessary for establishment of a chronic schistosomiasis infection. We then evaluated the composition of the fecal microbiome after 16S rRNA sequencing using open-source software (Qiita). Here, we characterized fecal microbiota changes by analyzing the relative abundance of several specific operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at the species level. Our long-term goal is to deduce the potential relationship between S. mansoni and the functional aspects of these OTUs, thereby understanding the subsequent effect this alteration has on the host. These data support a modification of the mammalian gut microbiome composition by a chronic schistosomiasis infection. These functional changes serve as a foundation for the design of mechanistic studies to unravel the complex relationship between the microbial composition of the mammalian gut microbiome, chronic S. mansoni infection, and the host adaptive immune response.