Strongyloides stercoralis infestation in a child: How a nematode can affect gut microbiota

Abstract

Background: Strongyloidiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by the intestinal nematode Strongyloides stercoralis and characterized by gastrointestinal and pulmonary involvement. We report a pediatric case of strongyloidiasis to underline the response of the host microbiota to the perturbation induced by the nematode. Methods: We performed a 16S rRNA-metagenomic analysis of the gut microbiota of a 7-year-old female during and after S. stercolaris infection, investigating three time-point of stool samples’ ecology: T0-during parasite infection, T1-a month after parasite infection, and T2-two months after parasite infection. Targeted-metagenomics were used to investi-gate ecology and to predict the functional pathways of the gut microbiota. Results: an increase in the alpha-diversity indices in T0-T1 samples was observed compared to T2 and healthy controls (CTRLs). Beta-diversity analysis showed a shift in the relative abundance of specific gut bacterial species from T0 to T2 samples. Moreover, the functional prediction of the targeted-metagenomics profiles sug-gested an enrichment of microbial glycan and carbohydrate metabolisms in the T0 sample compared with CTRLs. Conclusions: The herein report reinforces the literature suggestion of a putative direct or immune-mediated ability of S. stercolaris to promote the increase in bacterial diversity.