Abstract
Blastocystis is an obligate anaerobic microbial eukaryote that frequently inhabits the gastrointestinal tract. Despite this prevalence, very little is known about the extent of its genetic diversity, pathogenicity, and interaction with the rest of the microbiome and its host. Although the organism is morphologically static, it has no less than 28 genetically distinct subtypes (STs). Reports on the pathogenicity of Blastocystis are conflicting. The association between Blastocystis and intestinal bacterial communities is being increasingly explored. Nonetheless, similar investigations extending to the metabolome are non-existent.Using established NMR metabolomics protocols in 149 faecal samples from individuals from South Korea (n = 38), Thailand (n = 44) and Turkey (n = 69), we have provided a snapshot of the core metabolic compounds present in human stools with (B+) and without (B−) Blastocystis. Samples included hosts with gastrointestinal symptoms and asymptomatics. A total of nine, 62 and 98 significant metabolites were associated with Blastocystis carriage in the South Korean, Thai and Turkish sample sets respectively, with a number of metabolites increased in colonised groups. The metabolic profiles of B+ and B− samples from all countries were distinct and grouped separately in the partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Typical inflammation-related metabolites negatively associated with Blastocystis positive samples. This data will assist in directing future studies underlying the involvement of Blastocystis in physiological processes of both the gut microbiome and the host. Future studies using metabolome and microbiome data along with host physiology and immune responses information will contribute significantly towards elucidating the role of Blastocystis in health and disease.
Highlights
The healthy gastrointestinal (GI) tract is composed of trillions of microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa that collectively have complex roles in gut homeostasis and host health
Some microbial eukaryotes have been associated with specific bacterial communities, which might result in disturbing gut homeostasis [8,9,10,11]
Blastocystis has been associated with GI disorders including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) [12,13,14,15,16]
Summary
The healthy gastrointestinal (GI) tract is composed of trillions of microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa that collectively have complex roles in gut homeostasis and host health. Asymptomatic colonisation in human and non-human hosts is frequently reported, where its presence has been linked to increased bacterial diversity and positive gut health [8,24,25,26,27,28]. This has resulted in its pathogenicity being disputed and instead, Blastocystis is increasingly considered a mutualist member of the gut microbiota [29,30,31]. We used 1H NMR metabolomics on Blastocystis positive (B+) and Blastocystis negative (B−) human stool samples to investigate metabolic profiles of Blastocystis colonisation for human cohorts spanning three different countries: South Korea, Thailand, and Turkey
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