Megasphaerain the stool microbiota is negatively associated with diarrheal cryptosporidiosis

Abstract

Background: The protozoan parasites in the Cryptosporidium genus cause both acute diarrheal disease and subclinical (i.e. non-diarrheal) disease. It is unclear if the microbiota can influence the manifestation of diarrhea during a Cryptosporidium infection. Methods: To characterize the role of the gut microbiota in diarrheal cryptosporidiosis, the microbiome composition of both diarrheal and surveillance Cryptosporidium-positive fecal samples was evaluated using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Additionally, the microbiome composition prior to infection was examined to test whether a preexisting microbiome profile could influence the Cryptosporidium infection phenotype. Results: Fecal microbiome composition was associated with diarrheal symptoms at two timepoints. Megasphaera was significantly less abundant in diarrheal samples when compared to subclinical samples at the time of Cryptosporidium detection (log2(fold change) = -4.3, p=10-10) and prior to infection (log2(fold change) = -2.0, p=10-4). Random forest classification also identified Megasphaera abundance in the pre- and post-exposure microbiota.as predictive of a subclinical infection. Conclusions: Microbiome composition broadly, and specifically low Megasphaera abundance, was associated with diarrheal symptoms prior to and at the time of Cryptosporidium detection. This observation suggests that the gut microenvironment may play a role in determining the severity of a Cryptosporidium infection.

Specific Alterations of Gut Microbiota in Chinese Patients with Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Communication between the enteric nervous system and the central nervous system, which is also affected by SCFAs, has similarly emerged with a potential link to BP. This ability of Megasphaera to produce SCFAs or to modulate the host’s immune system may be protective in attenuating disease during infection [48]. Although the abundance of Megasphaera was increased in our study, the level of SCFAs in patients with HTN was decreased [10, 25].…”

Duodenal microbiota and weight-loss following sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass – a pilot study

“…Increased abundance of Prevotella has been previously linked to Dietary-Fiber induced improvements in glucose metabolism (20), weight loss responses to speci c diets and obesity management (21). Megasphaera's role the gut microbiota has not been thoroughly researched yet, some studies showed that its lowered abundance correlates with severity of Diarrheal Cryptosporidiosis (22) while others focus on its role in female reproductive health (23). Literature search for the role of Pseudorhodobacter in gut microbiota and in the gut brain axis returned no studies.…”

Leveraging host-genetics and gut microbiota to determine immunocompetence in pigs

“…According to this result, an increase in the abundance of Megasphaera has been described in colon content and faeces of pigs fed with iron-deficient diet [57]. Interestingly, this genus was reported as a potential biomarker for immune-mediate mechanism of protection from diarrhea [58] and positive correlated with luminal IgA concentration in pigs [49].…”