Transplantation Center, Engineering and Technology Research Center for Transplantation Medicine of National Health Commission, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Schistosomiasis Control Institute of Hunan Province, Yueyang, Hunan, China.
Parasit Vectors. 2023 Oct 5;16(1):346. doi: 10.1186/s13071-023-05970-3.
Schistosoma infection is a significant public health issue, affecting over 200 million individuals and threatening 700 million people worldwide. The species prevalent in China is Schistosoma japonicum. Recent studies showed that both gut microbiota and metabolome are closely related to schistosomiasis caused by S. japonicum, but clinical study is limited and the underlying mechanism is largely unclear. This study aimed to explore alterations as well as function of gut microbiota and metabolite profile in the patients with S. japonicum infection.
This study included 20 patients diagnosed with chronic schistosomiasis caused by S. japonicum, eight patients with advanced schistosomiasis caused by S. japonicum and 13 healthy volunteers. The fresh feces of these participators, clinical examination results and basic information were collected. 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing was used to investigate gut microbiota, while ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) was applied to explore the metabolome of patients in different stages of schistosomiasis.
The study found that gut microbiota and metabolites were altered in patients with different stages of S. japonicum infection. Compared with healthy control group, the gut microbial diversity in patients with chronic S. japonicum infection was decreased significantly. However, the diversity of gut microbiota in patients with chronic schistosomiasis was similar to that in patients with advanced schistosomiasis. Compared with uninfected people, patients with schistosomiasis showed decreased Firmicutes and increased Proteobacteria. As disease progressed, Firmicutes was further reduced in patients with advanced S. japonicum infection, while Proteobacteria was further increased. In addition, the most altered metabolites in patients with S. japonicum infection were lipids and lipid-like molecules as well as organo-heterocyclic compounds, correlated with the clinical manifestations and disease progress of schistosomiasis caused by S. japonicum.
This study suggested that the gut microbiota and metabolome altered in patients in different stages of schistosomiasis, which was correlated with progression of schistosomiasis caused by S. japonicum. This inter-omics analysis may shed light on a better understanding of the mechanisms of the progression of S. japonicum infection and contribute to identifying new potential targets for the diagnosis and prognosis of S. japonicum infection. However, a large sample size of validation in clinic is needed, and further study is required to investigate the underlying mechanism.
血吸虫感染是一个严重的公共卫生问题，影响全球超过 2 亿人，并威胁到全球 7 亿人。在中国流行的物种是日本血吸虫。最近的研究表明，肠道微生物群和代谢组都与日本血吸虫引起的血吸虫病密切相关，但临床研究有限，其潜在机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。本研究旨在探讨日本血吸虫感染患者肠道微生物群和代谢物谱的变化及其功能。
本研究纳入了 20 例慢性日本血吸虫感染患者、8 例晚期日本血吸虫感染患者和 13 名健康志愿者。收集了这些参与者的新鲜粪便、临床检查结果和基本信息。采用 16S 核糖体 RNA 基因测序技术研究肠道微生物群，采用超高效液相色谱-质谱联用（UHPLC-MS）技术研究不同分期血吸虫病患者的代谢组。
本研究发现，不同分期日本血吸虫感染患者的肠道微生物群和代谢物发生了改变。与健康对照组相比，慢性日本血吸虫感染患者的肠道微生物多样性显著降低。然而，慢性日本血吸虫感染患者的肠道微生物多样性与晚期日本血吸虫感染患者相似。与未感染者相比，血吸虫病患者的厚壁菌门减少，变形菌门增加。随着疾病的进展，晚期日本血吸虫感染患者的厚壁菌门进一步减少，而变形菌门进一步增加。此外，日本血吸虫感染患者改变最明显的代谢物是脂质和类脂分子以及有机杂环化合物，与日本血吸虫引起的血吸虫病的临床表现和疾病进展有关。
本研究表明，不同分期血吸虫病患者的肠道微生物群和代谢谱发生了改变，这与日本血吸虫感染的进展有关。这种组学分析可能有助于更好地理解日本血吸虫感染进展的机制，并有助于确定日本血吸虫感染的诊断和预后的新的潜在靶点。然而，需要在临床上进行更大样本量的验证，还需要进一步研究以探讨其潜在机制。
