Intestinal microbiota – A modulator of the Trypanosoma cruzi-vector-host triad

Abstract

Chagas disease affects millions of people, and it is a major cause of death in Latin America. Prevention and development of an effective treatment for this infection can be favored by a more thorough understanding of T. cruzi interaction with the microbiome of vectors and hosts. Next-generation sequencing technology vastly broadened the knowledge about intestinal bacteria composition, showing that microbiota within each host (triatomines and mammals) is composed by high diversity of species, although few dominant phyla. This fact may represent an ecological balance that was acquired during the evolutionary process of the microbiome-host complex, and that serves to perpetuate this system. In this context, commensal microbiota is also essential to protect hosts, conferring them resistance to pathogens colonization. However, in some situations, the microbiota is not able to prevent infection but only modulate it. Here we will review the role of the microbiota on the parasite-vector-host triad with a focus on the kinetoplastida of medical importance Trypanosoma cruzi. Novel strategies to control Chagas disease based on intestinal microbiome will also be discussed.

Comparison of the Bacterial Gut Microbiome of North American Triatoma spp. With and Without Trypanosoma cruzi

“…collected in the United States (da Mota et al, 2012;Gumiel et al, 2015;Díaz et al, 2016;Montoya-Porras et al, 2018;Rodríguez-Ruano et al, 2018;Waltmann et al, 2019). The composition and diversity of insect gut bacteria could play a significant role, not only in the life cycle of the insect itself (Rodríguez-Ruano et al, 2018), but also in relation to the life cycles of the parasites that they vector, including whether the insect is able to competently harbor and/or transmit various microbes to hosts (Engel and Moran, 2013;Goodrich Julia et al, 2014;Teotônio et al, 2019).…”

Transcriptomic analysis of the adaptation to prolonged starvation of the insect-dwelling Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes

“…Parasite life cycle depends on complex interactions with biological, chemical and physical factors in the natural host. The host microbiome, temperature and nutritional environment including the contribution of parasite autophagy have been recognized as relevant variables that affect differentiation ( Jimenez et al., 2008 ; Li et al., 2011 ; Díaz-Albiter et al., 2016 ; Teotônio et al., 2019 ; Cruz-Saavedra et al., 2020 ; Paes et al., 2020 ).…”

Over-dispersed Trypanosoma cruzi parasite load in sylvatic and domestic mammals and humans from northeastern Argentina

“…The parameter B1, associated with the probability that a vector becomes infected, had similar values in sylvatic and domestic host models and is close to the maximum value. Both the establishment and development of T. cruzi within triatomines may be affected by the gut microbiota [ 71 – 73 ] and by digestive enzymes, agglutinins, hemolysins and antimicrobials [ 74 ]. The modeling approach employed in the present study would allow the study of reservoir host competence in a larger number of host species, thereby avoiding examination through xenodiagnosis which is more time-consuming.…”