Toxocara canis Infection Alters mRNA Expression Profiles of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Beagle Dogs at the Lung Infection Period

Abstract

Toxocara canis is a neglected zoonotic roundworm distributed all over the world, causing toxocariasis in humans and animals. However, so far, the immune mechanism of T. canis infection in definitive hosts remains to be clarified. In this study, the transcriptional alterations of Beagle dogs’ peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) induced by T. canis infection during the lung infection period were analyzed using RNA-seq technology. A total of 2142 differentially expressed genes were identified, with 1066 upregulated genes and 1076 downregulated genes. Many differentially expressed genes participated in the biological process of intracellular signal transduction, as well as the immune- or inflammation-related KEGG signaling pathway, such as the Notch signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and NF-kappa B signaling pathway, through KEGG enrichment analysis. This study indicated that T. canis infection could suppress the biological function of Beagle dogs’ PMBCs and provided basic data to further clarify the interaction mechanism between T. canis and host immune cells.