The effect of helminth infection on the microbial composition and structure of the caprine abomasal microbiome

Abstract

Haemonchus contortus is arguably the most injurious helminth parasite for small ruminants. We characterized the impact of H. contortus infection on the caprine abomasal microbiome. Fourteen parasite naive goats were inoculated with 5,000 H. contortus infective larvae and followed for 50 days. Six age-matched naïve goats served as uninfected controls. Reduced bodyweight gain and a significant increase in the abosamal pH was observed in infected goats compared to uninfected controls. Infection also increased the bacterial load while reducing the abundance of the Archaea in the abomasum but did not appear to affect microbial diversity. Nevertheless, the infection altered the abundance of approximately 19% of the 432 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTU) detected per sample. A total of 30 taxa displayed a significantly different abundance between control and infected goats. Furthermore, the infection resulted in a distinct difference in the microbiome structure. As many as 8 KEGG pathways were predicted to be significantly affected by infection. In addition, H. contortus-induced changes in butyrate producing bacteria could regulate mucosal inflammation and tissue repair. Our results provided insight into physiological consequences of helminth infection in small ruminants and could facilitate the development of novel control strategies to improve animal and human health.

Helminth infections and gut microbiota – a feline perspective

“…In this study, no significant differences in OTU richness and diversity were recorded between Tc + and Tc - samples; this finding is in contrast with the results of previous studies of parasite-associated changes in gut microbiota [7, 8, 16, 47], with some exceptions [15, 22]. For instance, helminth-associated increases in microbial diversity were recorded in studies aimed to elucidate the role of the gut microbiota in parasite-induced suppression of inflammation, both in humans with coeliac disease experimentally infected with N. americanus [8] and in macaques with idiopathic chronic diarrhoea experimentally infected with T. suis [16].…”

“…In addition, while limited information is available on the relationships between the composition of the gut microbiota and infections by selected species of strongylids (i.e. A. caninum and H. contortus ) [22, 23] and enoplids (i.e. T. suis ) [21], no study, to the best of our knowledge, has analysed the effects of ascarid infections on the make-up of the gut commensal flora of domestic animals.…”

“…However, thus far, only a handful of studies have explored the relationships between GI enoplids and strongylids and the commensal gut flora in non-experimental animals. These studies include recent investigations of changes in the composition of the microbiota of the proximal colon of pigs infected with T. suis [21], of the abomasum of goats infected with Haemonchus contortus [22] and of dogs infected with Ancylostoma caninum [23]. However, despite these efforts, knowledge of this area remains fragmentary.…”

Neoagarotetraose protects mice against intense exercise‐induced fatigue damage by modulating gut microbial composition and function

“…The concentration of the final library pool was quantified using a BioAnalyzer high‐sensitivity DNA chip kit (Agilent). The library pool was sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq Reagent Kit on an Illumina MiSeq sequencer, as described previously .…”

Next Generation Sequencing and Microbial Community Associated With Eukaryotes Including Parasitic Heliminths: A Review Article.

“…The diversity indices of bacterial 16S rDNA and the change in soil bacterial community composition increased under intensive grazing [62]. A growing body of evidence shows that parasitic infections are associated with the alterations of porcine proximal colon microbiota at 21-days of infection with Trichuris suis [63], and the changes in the caprine abomasal microbial composition induced by H. contortus at 50-days infection [64]. Interactions among helminth parasites, bacterial microbiota, and host immunity have been reviewed in detail elsewhere [65; 66; 67] (Fig.…”