Dissection of gut microbiota in mothers and children suffering from chronic helminth infection in Pemba Island, Tanzania

Soil-transmitted helminthiasis is an important neglected tropical disease resulting in an extremely high number of disability-adjusted life years worldwide. Understanding the interaction between human intestinal microbiome and helminths is of interest in the development of alternative treatments that do not rely on chemotherapeutics and do not lead to drug resistance. 39 pairs of mothers and children in Pemba Island were recruited and their intestinal microbiome were monitored using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We found that the helminth colonization had a significant and similar impact on the gut microbiota on mothers and children. SCFAs-producing bacteria such as Faecalibacterium, Blautia, Lachnospira, Ruminococcaceae UCG-5, Roseburia and Anaerostipes, beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium, carbohydrate-degrading bacteria such as Succinivibrio and Prevotella, were shown to decrease in abundance in the infected individuals. Whereas Enterococcus, Ruminococcaceae UCG-010 and Methanobrevibacter were shown to enrich in abundance in the infected individuals. Our findings may reveal potential biomarkers and could also be used further to identify protective bacterial populations and elucidate the beneficial function in maintaining and restoring gut homeostasis after helminth infection.