0000000000452268
AUTHOR
Maria Trelis
Presence of Blastocystis in gut microbiota is associated with cognitive traits and decreased executive function.
Growing evidence implicates the gut microbiome in cognition. Blastocystis is a common gut single-cell eukaryote parasite frequently detected in humans but its potential involvement in human pathophysiology has been poorly characterized. Here we describe how the presence of Blastocystis in the gut microbiome was associated with deficits in executive function and altered gut bacterial composition in a discovery (n = 114) and replication cohorts (n = 942). We also found that Blastocystis was linked to bacterial functions related to aromatic amino acids metabolism and folate-mediated pyrimidine and one-carbon metabolism. Blastocystis-associated shifts in bacterial functionality translated into …
Extracellular Vesicles From the Helminth Fasciola hepatica Prevent DSS-Induced Acute Ulcerative Colitis in a T-Lymphocyte Independent Mode
The complexity of the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease) has led to the quest of empirically drug therapies, combining immunosuppressant agents, biological therapy and modulators of the microbiota. Helminth parasites have been proposed as an alternative treatment of these diseases based on the hygiene hypothesis, but ethical and medical problems arise. Recent reports have proved the utility of parasite materials, mainly excretory/secretory products as therapeutic agents. The identification of extracellular vesicles on those secreted products opens a new field of investigation, since they exert potent immunomodulating effects. To assess the ef…
Do Intestinal Unicellular Parasites Have a Role in the Inflammatory and Redox Status among the Severely Obese?
The diagnosis of obesity comprises subjects with totally different phenotypes and metabolic profiles. Systemic inflammation and oxidative stress derived from the white adipose tissue are suggested as the link between this disease and the development of insulin resistance and metabolic comorbidities. The presence of unicellular eukaryotic parasites colonizing the human gut ecosystem is a common circumstance, and yet their influence on the inflammatory and redox status of the obese host has not been assessed. Herein, a set of inflammatory and redox biomarkers were assessed together with a parasitological analysis of 97 severely obese subjects. Information was also collected on insulin resista…