Abstract
Hyperinfection and disseminated infection by the parasitic nematode Strongyloides stercoralis can be induced by iatrogenic administration of steroids and immunosuppression and lead to an elevated risk of mortality. Responses of free-living stages of S. stercoralis to the therapeutic corticosteroid dexamethasone (DXM) were investigated using RNA-seq transcriptomes of DXM-treated female and male worms. A total of 17,950 genes representing the transcriptome of these free-living adult stages were obtained, among which 199 and 263 were differentially expressed between DXM-treated females and DXM-treated males, respectively, compared with controls. According to Gene Ontology analysis, differentially expressed genes from DXM-treated females participate in developmental process, multicellular organismal process, cell differentiation, carbohydrate metabolic process and embryonic morphogenesis. Others are involved in signaling and signal transduction, including cAMP, cGMP-dependent protein kinase pathway, endocrine system, and thyroid hormone pathway, as based on Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis. The novel findings warrant deeper investigation of the influence of DXM on growth and other pathways in this neglected tropical disease pathogen, particularly in a setting of autoimmune and/or allergic disease, which may require the clinical use of steroid-like hormones during latent or covert strongyloidiasis.
Highlights
Strongyloides stercoralis is a soil-transmitted nematode that infects humans via skin penetration, eventually residing in the small intestine
Transcriptome profiles of free-living of Strongyloides stercoralis respond to dexamethasone in DXM-treated males when compared to female control (Fc) versus female treated (Ft)
Strongyloides stercoralis is an agent of human strongyloidiasis, and its infection can lead to hyperinfection and disseminated strongyloidiasis, in those who are immunosuppressed or undergoing corticosteroid-based treatment for an Transcriptome profiles of free-living of Strongyloides stercoralis respond to dexamethasone autoimmune disease [2, 3]
Summary
Strongyloides stercoralis is a soil-transmitted nematode that infects humans via skin penetration, eventually residing in the small intestine. As there are many human cases of strongyloidiasis and larvae can be recovered from feces, access to the free-living cycle of this human pathogen is less difficult. Enhanced fecundity effects on S. stercoralis in the environment after exposure to steroids in the human bowel and excretion via feces are worthy of investigation Such effects may increase the opportunity for population exposure to infective larvae and result in elevated prevalence and incidence in at-risk populations. The model employed exposure of worms cultured in vitro on agar plates to DXM, followed by investigation of the transcriptome of free-living stages of S. stercoralis, including the parental free-living adult male and female stages. Using Illumina-based deep sequencing of total mRNA, we obtained insight into the genomic responses of this pathogenic nematode to this hormone-like agent
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