Role and mechanism of gut microbiota and metabolites in intestinal inflammation caused by Toxoplasma gondii infectio

Toxoplasma gondii can cause serious zoonotic disease. Oral infection of cysts is the main transmission route of Toxoplasma and there is a lack of safe and effective drugs against Toxoplasma. It has been reported that Toxoplasma can significantly alter the structure and metabolism of gut microbiota, thereby affecting the process of Toxoplasma infection. Probiotics have been shown to be effective in the treatment of Toxoplasma infection. However, there is still limited systematic research on the action and mechanism of gut microbiota and its metabolites that regulate intestinal inflammation caused by Toxoplasma infection. Based on our previous study, we proposed a scientific hypothesis that the severity of Toxoplasma infection in different strains is closely related to the gut microbiota from the perspective of the interaction between gut microbiota and Toxoplasma infection. This project intends to analyze and identify the key gut microbiota and metabolites that affect the process of Toxoplasma infection using a multi omics approach combining 16S rRNA sequencing and metabolomics, and to further elucidate the mechanism of action of gut microbiota and their metabolites in regulating intestinal inflammation caused by Toxoplasma infection, which will provide important guiding significance for the development of drugs to treat toxoplasmosis.