Dietary Inulin and Trichuris suis Infection Promote Beneficial Bacteria Throughout the Porcine Gut

Abstract

The gut microbiota (GM) displays a profound ability to adapt to extrinsic factors, such as gastrointestinal pathogens and/or dietary alterations. Parasitic worms (helminths) and host-associated GM share a long co-evolutionary relationship, exerting mutually modulatory effects which may impact the health of the host. Moreover, dietary components such as prebiotic fibers (e.g. inulin) are capable of modulating microbiota toward a composition often associated with a healthier gut function. The effect of helminth infection on the host microbiota is still equivocal, and it is also unclear how parasites and prebiotic dietary components interact to influence the microbiota and host health status. Some helminths, such as Trichuris suis (porcine whipworm), also exhibit strong immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects. We therefore explored the effects of T. suis, alone and in interaction with inulin, both in fecal microbiota during the infection period and luminal microbiota across four intestinal segments at the end of a 4-week infection period. We observed that T. suis generally had minimal, but mainly positive, effects on the microbiota. T. suis increased the relative abundance of bacterial genera putatively associated with gut health such as Prevotella, and decreased bacteria such as Proteobacteria that have been associated with dysbiosis. Interestingly, dietary inulin interacted with T. suis to enhance these effects, thereby modulating the microbiota toward a composition associated with reduced inflammation. Our results show that administration of T. suis together with the consumption of prebiotic inulin may have the potential to positively affect gut health.

The phytonutrient cinnamaldehyde limits intestinal inflammation and enteric parasite infection

“…Dietary substances can interact dynamically with the GM, and changes in GM composition can regulate intestinal immune responses to infection [23, 24]. Thus, we next examined whether CA intake altered the composition of the GM, and thus whether a prebiotic effect may be responsible for the immunomodulatory activity.…”

Emerging interactions between diet, gastrointestinal helminth infection, and the gut microbiota in livestock

“…It has also been investigated for its ability to promote gut health and combat diseases such as Brachyspira and Salmonella infection in pigs and poultry, through a GM-mediated mechanism [60,61]. However, in pigs given a short-term T. suis infection, both inulin and infection appeared to have comparable effects on GM composition, resulting in an additive effect of inulin and infection including a decrease in the abundance of putatively harmful bacteria from the Proteobacteria phylum [62]. Dietary inulin also enhanced parasite-induced Th2 immune function and synergistically suppressed pro-inflammatory responses in the colon, suggesting that the natural Th2 polarization was amplified by the changes in GM brought about by the dietary intervention [63].…”

Helminth Sensing at the Intestinal Epithelial Barrier—A Taste of Things to Come

“…Moreover, helminth-driven dysbiosis may actually strengthen existing innate barrier responses, as during large intestinal Trichuris suis infection, the addition of the dietary supplement inulin heightens the microbial changes T . suis initiates ( 96 ), resulting in tuft cell hyperplasia ( 97 ).…”