Porcine metabolome data

Ascaris roundworms impair human and swine health. While treatments using anthelmintic drugs are generally effective in eliminating worms, their effects on the gut microenvironment remain poorly understood. Here we took an integrated multi-omics approach to investigate pathophysiological implications of drug-mediated worm clearance in a swine-Ascaris model. We also validated key findings using in vitro aerobic and anaerobic cultures.
Our data show that Ascaris suum infection altered microbial composition and dysregulated 182 serum and fecal metabolites, including histamine and p-cresol sulfate. Compared to time-matched healthy controls, the infected and anthelmintic treated pigs differed markedly in gut microbial composition thirteen days after successful fenbendazole treatments that eliminated worms from the gut. Eleven pathways were enriched in successfully treated pigs, including peptidoglycan biosynthesis and histidine metabolism, suggesting that infection-induced alterations can be long-lasting. Interactions between parasite proteins and fenbendazole strongly increased histamine production by Lactobacillus reuteri in vitro by 83.7% (P < 0.05). Host microbiota modified swine-Ascaris interactions by producing metabolites regulating host gene expression, such as TFF2 and IL8. Our findings demonstrated that host microbiota modifies swine-Ascaris interactions via different mechanisms. Microbiota-derived metabolites directly regulate host gene expression. Microbiota plasticity allows the exploitation of the niche differentiated upon infection, resulting in blossom of certain Lactobacillus strains in treated animals. Designing functional anthelminthics will require attention to the complex interactions between parasites, drugs, and the gut microbiota.