Toxoplasma gondii primarily invades the central nervous system, causing latent infections. Cysts persist in the host for life and there is currently no effective treatment. T. gondii infects human hosts through contaminated meat, invading the intestinal tissue and leading to changes in the number and composition of the gut microbiota. Since probiotic ingestion modulates intestinal microbiota changes, we hypothesized that intestinal microbiota dysbiosis caused by T. gondii infection would be restored following probiotic supplementation. To this end, we orally infected C57BL/6 mice with 10 T. gondii cysts and administered supplemental probiotics daily. We analyzed the levels of T. gondii B1 gene DNA, indicative of T. gondii infection, in brain tissue. We investigated alterations in the gut microbiota composition and functional pathways between the probiotic and non-probiotic treatment groups via next-generation sequencing analysis of each fecal sample. The infection level in the probiotic-treated group was significantly reduced after 4 weeks (p<0.05). Probiotic supplementation notably changed the gut microbiota after 2 weeks of infection, increasing the relative abundance of Intestinimonas massiliensis and Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus. Probiotic supplements appear to modulate the gut microbiota, activating functional pathways involved in intestinal short-chain fatty acid production and strengthening the intestinal barrier, thereby impeding T. gondii infection and subsequent proliferation. Our findings provide valuable insights into T. gondii infection control and future study directions.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Lactobacillus vaginalis alleviates DSS induced colitis by regulating the gut microbiota and increasing the production of 3-indoleacrylic acid Zhuoya Wang, Tian Liu, Li Liu, Jian Xie, Furui Tang, Yimin Pi, Yuchun Zhong, Zhidong He, Wenming Zhang, Cihua Zheng Pharmacological Research.2025; 213: 107663. CrossRef
Gut microbiota-derived butyrate alleviates the impairment of mice intestinal integrity caused by Toxoplasma gondii infection Shuni Liu, Yutao Zheng, Bingqian Cui, Jiayi Yang, Bohui Yuan, Yuhan Cao, Zimu Zhao, Zhuo Sun, Qingling Wang, Xiaoying Yang, Wei Pan, Cheng He Life Sciences.2025; 374: 123709. CrossRef
Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Assessment of Environmental Health in Western Anatolian Vole (Microtus lydius Blackler, 1916) Tuba Yağcı, Gözde Ayseçkin Journal of Anatolian Environmental and Animal Sciences.2025; 10(4): 471. CrossRef
Microbiome of Dipteran vectors associated with integron and antibiotic resistance genes in South Korea Xavier Chavarria, Arwa Shatta, Hyun Seo Park, Du-Yeol Choi, Dongjun Kang, Singeun Oh, Dawon Lee, Myungjun Kim, Jun Ho Choi, Yoon Hee Cho, Myung-hee Yi, Ju Yeong Kim Acta Tropica.2025; 271: 107858. CrossRef
Urban environmental drivers of eukaryotic microbiota and parasite prevalence in domestic pigeon faeces: a metabarcoding-based public health risk assessment in Seoul, South Korea Singeun Oh, Jun Ho Choi, Xavier Chavarria, Myungjun Kim, Dongjun Kang, Myung-hee Yi, Yoon Hee Cho, In-Yong Lee, Tai-Soon Yong, Seongjun Choe, Ju Yeong Kim Journal of The Royal Society Interface.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
The genus Babesia includes parasites that can induce human and animal babesiosis, which are common in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The gut microbiota has not been examined in hamsters infected by Babesia duncani. Red blood cells infected with B. duncani were injected into hamsters through intraperitoneal route. To evaluate the changes in gut microbiota, DNAs were extracted from small intestinal contents, acquired from hamsters during disease development. Then, the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene of bacteria was sequenced using the Illumina sequencing platform. Gut microbiota alternation and composition were assessed according to the sequencing data, which were clustered with >97.0% sequence similarity to create amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were made up of the major components of the gut microbiota in all samples. The abundance of Bacteroidetes elevated after B. duncani infection than the B. duncani-free group, while Firmicutes and Desulfobacterota declined. Alpha diversity analysis demonstrated that the shown ASVs were substantially decreased in the highest parasitemia group than B. duncani-free and lower parasitemia groups. Potential biomarkers were discovered by Linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis, which demonstrated that several bacterial families (including Muribaculaceae, Desulfovibrionaceae, Oscillospiraceae, Helicobacteraceae, Clostridia UGG014, Desulfovibrionaceae, and Lachnospiraceae) were potential biomarkers in B. duncani-infected hamsters. This research demonstrated that B. duncani infectious can modify the gut microbiota of hamsters.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Nationwide investigation of eukaryotic pathogens in ticks from cattle and sheep in Kyrgyzstan using metabarcoding Singeun Oh, Nathalie Amvongo-Adjia, Hyun Jung Kim, Jun Ho Choi, Xavier Chavarria, Myung-hee Yi, Arwa Shatta, Bekbolsun Aknazarov, Ju Yeong Kim, Jung-Won Ju, Bekir Oguz PLOS One.2025; 20(8): e0327953. CrossRef
Eimeria infections of plateau pika altered the patterns of temporal alterations in gut bacterial communities Maoping Li, Suqin Wang, Liang Zhong, Petr Heděnec, Zhaoxian Tan, Rong Wang, Xinyang Chen, Yan Zhang, Bingmin Tang, Huakun Zhou, Jiapeng Qu Frontiers in Microbiology.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Atractylenolide-I Alleviates Hyperglycemia-Induced Heart Developmental Malformations through Direct and Indirect Modulation of the STAT3 Pathway Mengwei Wang, Tong-hua Zhang, Yunjin Li, Xiaofeng Chen, Qiongyin Zhang, Ying Zheng, Denglu Long, Xin Cheng, An Hong, Xuesong Yang, Guang Wang Phytomedicine.2024; 129: 155698. CrossRef
Qi Huang Fang improves intestinal barrier function and intestinal microbes in septic mice through NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated cellular pyroptosis Tingting Shu, Jun Zhang, Ruiying Hu, Fang Zhou, Hanyong Li, Jing Liu, Yanbo Fan, Xucheng Li, Peiwu Ding Transplant Immunology.2024; 85: 102072. CrossRef
Cockroaches inhabit various habitats, which will influence their microbiome. Although the microbiome can be influenced by the diet and environmental factors, it can also differ between species. Therefore, we conducted 16S rDNAtargeted high-throughput sequencing to evaluate the overall bacterial composition of the microbiomes of 3 cockroach species, Periplaneta americana, P. japonica, and P. fuliginosa, raised in laboratory for several generations under the same conditions. The experiments were conducted using male adult cockroaches. The number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was not significantly different among the 3 species. With regard to the Shannon and Pielou indexes, higher microbiome values were noted in P. americana than in P. japonica and P. fuliginosa. Microbiome composition was also evaluated, with endosymbionts accounting for over half of all OTUs in P. japonica and P. fuliginosa. Beta diversity analysis further showed that P. japonica and P. fuliginosa had similar microbiome composition, which differed from that of P. americana. However, we also identified that P. japonica and P. fuliginosa host distinct OTUs. Thus, although microbiome compositions may vary based on multiple conditions, it is possible to identify distinct microbiome compositions among different Periplaneta cockroach species, even when the individuals are reared under the same conditions.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
The Medical Importance of Cockroaches as Vectors of Pathogens: Implications for Public Health Dongfen Geng, Haotian Yu, Teng Zhao, Chunxiao Li Zoonoses.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Endosymbiont and gut bacterial communities of the brown-banded cockroach, Supella longipalpa Kylene Guse, Jose E. Pietri PeerJ.2024; 12: e17095. CrossRef
Diversity, antibacterial and phytotoxic activities of actinomycetes associated with Periplaneta fuliginosa Qihua Liu, Jian Tao, Longhui Kan, Yinglao Zhang, Shuxiang Zhang PeerJ.2024; 12: e18575. CrossRef
Composition and diversity of the gut microbiota across different life stages of American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) Zhiyu Chen, Sihao Wen, Juan Shen, Jie Wang, Wenbin Liu, Xiaobao Jin Bulletin of Entomological Research.2023; 113(6): 787. CrossRef
Of Cockroaches and Symbionts: Recent Advances in the Characterization of the Relationship between Blattella germanica and Its Dual Symbiotic System Amparo Latorre, Rebeca Domínguez-Santos, Carlos García-Ferris, Rosario Gil Life.2022; 12(2): 290. CrossRef
Differences in Gut Microbiome Composition Between Sympatric Wild and Allopatric Laboratory Populations of Omnivorous Cockroaches Kara A. Tinker, Elizabeth A. Ottesen Frontiers in Microbiology.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
First
Prev
