Authors

A V EastonC ShyuM QuinonesJ DavisY BelkaidC S MwandawiroJ P Webster⁴; R M Anderson²; T B Nutman ¹ Eastern and Southern Africa Centre of International Parasite Control (ESACIPAC), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Kenya;  ² Imperial College London;  ³ National Institutes of Health, United States;  ⁴ Royal Veterinary College

Discussion

To demonstrate how molecular approaches to the human gut pathobiome and bacterial microbiome can provide insights into the complex interplay among disparate organisms, DNA was extracted from cryopreserved stools from 5 rural Kenyan villages and examined by qPCR for 9 parasites and MiSeq 16S rRNA sequencing for bacterial communities before and 3 months following albendazole (ALB) therapy. Among 796 people surveyed, 23% (186) had 2 or more gastrointestinal parasites concurrently. There were no strong relationships between the presence of one infection and the presence of any other parasite measured, apart from Ascaris lumbricoides and Giardia lamblia (Pearson chi-square, p <0.001). Based on 16S rRNA sequence from 192 pre-ALB samples, there was no significant relationship between STH infection and microbial community composition. However, when a measure of microbial species diversity  (Shannon index) was applied to paired samples pre- and post-ALB, there was a significant increase in microbiome diversity (p=0.04) in those with hookworm pre-ALB whereas those with Ascaris or no STH infection pre-ALB showed no significant changes in microbial diversity post-ALB. Work is ongoing to increase the sample size to clearly understand the broader impact of mass deworming programs on human health.