Browsing by Author "Shute, Adam"

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    Cooperation between host immunity and the gut bacteria is essential for helminth-evoked suppression of colitis
    (2021-09-13) Shute, Adam; Callejas, Blanca E.; Li, ShuHua; Wang, Arthur; Jayme, Timothy S.; Ohland, Christina; Lewis, Ian A.; Layden, Brian T.; Buret, André G.; McKay, Derek M.
    Abstract Background Studies on the inhibition of inflammation by infection with helminth parasites have, until recently, overlooked a key determinant of health: the gut microbiota. Infection with helminths evokes changes in the composition of their host’s microbiota: one outcome of which is an altered metabolome (e.g., levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)) in the gut lumen. The functional implications of helminth-evoked changes in the enteric microbiome (composition and metabolites) are poorly understood and are explored with respect to controlling enteric inflammation. Methods Antibiotic-treated wild-type, germ-free (GF) and free fatty-acid receptor-2 (ffar2) deficient mice were infected with the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta, then challenged with DNBS-colitis and disease severity and gut expression of the il-10 receptor-α and SCFA receptors/transporters assessed 3 days later. Gut bacteria composition was assessed by 16 s rRNA sequencing and SCFAs were measured. Other studies assessed the ability of feces or a bacteria-free fecal filtrate from H. diminuta-infected mice to inhibit colitis. Results Protection against disease by infection with H. diminuta was abrogated by antibiotic treatment and was not observed in GF-mice. Bacterial community profiling revealed an increase in variants belonging to the families Lachnospiraceae and Clostridium cluster XIVa in mice 8 days post-infection with H. diminuta, and the transfer of feces from these mice suppressed DNBS-colitis in GF-mice. Mice treated with a bacteria-free filtrate of feces from H. diminuta-infected mice were protected from DNBS-colitis. Metabolomic analysis revealed increased acetate and butyrate (both or which can reduce colitis) in feces from H. diminuta-infected mice, but not from antibiotic-treated H. diminuta-infected mice. H. diminuta-induced protection against DNBS-colitis was not observed in ffar2−/− mice. Immunologically, anti-il-10 antibodies inhibited the anti-colitic effect of H. diminuta-infection. Analyses of epithelial cell lines, colonoids, and colon segments uncovered reciprocity between butyrate and il-10 in the induction of the il-10-receptor and butyrate transporters. Conclusion Having defined a feed-forward signaling loop between il-10 and butyrate following infection with H. diminuta, this study identifies the gut microbiome as a critical component of the anti-colitic effect of this helminth therapy. We suggest that any intention-to-treat with helminth therapy should be based on the characterization of the patient’s immunological and microbiological response to the helminth.
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    Helminth Regulation of the Colonic Microbiome: Implications for the Control of Colitis
    (2020-11-18) Shute, Adam; McKay, Derek Mark; Buret, André Gerald; Sharkey, Keith A.; Strous, Marc
    The mammalian gut is a dynamic and complex organ composed of host cells, bacteria, fungi and viruses; while parasitic protozoa and helminths can be transient residents in the intestine. Through the advancements in high throughput sequencing, an increasing number of studies have catalogued taxonomic compositional changes in the gut microbiota following infection with parasitic helminths. However, the functional implications of such helminth-microbiota interactions on the host are not well understood, especially in the context of controlling inflammation. The McKay laboratory continuously demonstrates that mice infected with the rat tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta, are protected from dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (DNBS)-induced colitis. My thesis seeks to determine if H. diminuta is dependent on the intestinal microbiota to protect from colonic inflammation and to determine the underlying mechanisms that are responsible for this anti-inflammatory event. Although H. diminuta does not require the microbiota to infect or be recognized/expelled by the murine host’s immune system, distinct compositional changes to the colonic microbiota occur during infection with H. diminuta. Removing microbes by using germ-free mice or disrupting the intestinal microbiota through broad-spectrum antibiotic use inhibits the anti-inflammatory mechanism of H. diminuta towards DNBS-colitis. In addition to characterizing the compositional shift in the intestinal microbiota of mice infected with H. diminuta, we demonstrated a significant increase in fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFA), in particular acetate and butyrate. Infecting free fatty receptor 2 (ffar2)-knockout mice with H. diminuta inhibited the beneficial effect towards DNBS, and in parallel to this, treating mice with neutralizing IL-10 antibodies also blocked the protective effect of H. diminuta when challenged with DNBS. Immunostaining for IL-10Rα demonstrated increased reactivity in colonic tissues of mice that were either treated with butyrate enemas or infected with H. diminuta, as compared to tissue from naive mice. The data in this thesis provides proof-of-principle evidence that H. diminuta modulates both the gut microbiota and the immune system of its host to protect from chemically induced colitis. Where the removal of these constituents, inhibits H. diminuta’s ability to protect the host from colitis.