How to live in a dysbiosed environment: gut microbiota profiling in patients with co-occurrence of Blastocystis and Clostridioides difficile

Authors: VEGA, LAURA - Universidad Del Rosario, Columbia; HERRERA, GIOVANNY - Universidad Del Rosario, Columbia; MUÑOZ, MARINA - Universidad Del Rosario, Columbia; PATARROYO, MANUEL - Universidad Del Rosario, Columbia; Maloney, Jenny; Santin-Duran, Monica; RAMIREZ, JUAN - Universidad Del Rosario, Columbia

Submitted to: Scientific Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/19/2021
Publication Date: 3/16/2021
Citation: Vega, L., Herrera, G., Muñoz, M., Patarroyo, M.A., Maloney, J.G., Santin, M., Ramirez, J.D. 2021. How to live in a dysbiosed environment: gut microbiota profiling in patients with co-occurrence of Blastocystis and Clostridioides difficile. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248185.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248185

Interpretive Summary: The human gut microbiota consists of a wide variety of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. Among the thousands of microorganisms that make up the intestinal microbiota, bacteria Clostridioides difficile and a protist Blastocystis may play modulatory roles. To date, there have been no studies on gut microbiota during the co-occurrence of C. difficile and Blastocystis. This study aimed to describe gut microbiota of three groups of patients with diarrhoea: (1) infected with Blastocystis and C. difficile (B+/C+, n = 31), (2) infected only with C. difficile (B'/C+, n = 44) and (3) no infection by Blastocystis or C. difficile (B'/C', n = 40). The use of next generation amplicon sequencing to characterize Blastocystis subtypes gene revealed the presence of subtypes ST1 (43.4%), ST3 (35.85%) and ST5 (20.75%) among the study population. We also found that Blastocystis-positive patients had a higher abundance of some groups of beneficial bacteria, compared with non-Blastocystis-colonized patients. Regarding the eukaryome, the reduced abundance of some fungi genera was noted for Blastocystis-positive patients. Our results suggest that Blastocystis may exploit available resources within the disrupted microbiota of these patients, resulting in changes in the abundance of various members of the microbiota. This study also provides information about the interactions among members of the microbiota under a physiological imbalance in the microbiota. This frequency of colonization/infection by Blastocystis and C. difficile (26.96%) among these patients suggested possible adaptation by Blastocystis to oxidative stress in an altered microbiota. These data contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of Blastocystis infections and can be used to characterize the transmission pathways and health outcomes of Blastocystis infections. This study provides beneficial information to other scientists, physicians, and public health specialists interested in understanding the role of Blastocystis and its subtypes on gut health and disease.

Technical Abstract: Among the thousands of microorganisms that make up the intestinal microbiota, Clostridioides difficile and Blastocystis may play modulatory roles. This study aimed to describe the bacteriome and eukaryome of three patient groups: (1) Blastocystis and C. difficile infection (B+/C+, n = 31), (2) C. difficile infection only (B'/C+, n = 44) and (3) no colonization/infection by Blastocystis or C. difficile (B'/C', n = 40). Following DNA extraction, Blastocystis was typed using amplicon-based sequencing of the 18S-rRNA gene revealing circulation of subtypes ST1 (43.4%), ST3 (35.85%) and ST5 (20.75%) among the study population. This frequency of colonization/infection by Blastocystis and C. difficile (26.96%) among these patients suggested possible adaptation by Blastocystis to oxidative stress in an altered microbiota. We also found that -positive patients had a higher abundance of some groups of beneficial bacteria, compared with non-Blastocystis-colonized patients. Regarding the eukaryome, the reduced abundance of some fungi genera was noted for Blastocystis-positive patients. Our results suggest that Blastocystis may exploit available resources within the disrupted microbiota of these patients, resulting in changes in the abundance of various members of the microbiota. This study also provides information about the interactions among members of the microbiota under a physiological imbalance in the microbiota.