The microbiome of the helminth infected host: Implications for immunity and intestinal homeostasis

寄生虫（蠕虫）能够感染包括人类在内的多种动物的胃肠道。蠕虫感染通常与受感染个体宿主健康的显著影响有关。这种寄生虫的一个例子是人类鞭虫，它感染了全世界10亿人。在老鼠体内存在一个类似的模型系统，使我们能够研究鞭虫和宿主之间的相互作用。并了解宿主试图消灭蠕虫的机制。大肠中鞭虫感染的部位是宿主的家？在肠道菌群中，这些细菌对宿主的发育和维持很重要？S免疫反应和消化复杂的膳食分子。我们有数据显示，在小鼠慢性鞭虫感染中，受感染动物的肠道菌群发生了巨大变化。在这项研究中，我们的目标是精确地定义肠道菌群在鞭虫感染后的这些变化，然后了解这些变化对宿主的功能影响。具体来说，肠道菌群的变化是否在肠道中提供了一个新的生态系统，更有利于蠕虫的长期生存？它们是否会损害受感染个体消化复杂碳水化合物的能力，从而导致长期体重下降？最后，肠道菌群的这些变化是否对我们产生免疫反应的方式有影响，例如对其他传染性病原体或免疫疾病，如自身免疫或过敏。

Worm parasites (helminthes) are capable of infecting the gastrointestinal tract of a broad range of animals including humans. Helminth infection is often associated with pronounced effects on the health of the infected individual host. An example of such a parasite is the human whipworm that infects 1 billion people worldwide. An analogous model system exists in the mouse that allows us to study the interaction between the whipworm and the host?s immune system and understand the mechanisms by which the host attempts to eradicate the worm. The site of whipworm infection in the large intestine is home to the host?s gut flora, these bacteria are important in the development and maintenance of the host?s immune response and in digesting complex dietary molecules. We have data showing that in a chronic whipworm infection in the mouse there are dramatic changes in the gut flora of the infected animal. In this research we aim to precisely define these changes in the gut flora following whipworm infection and then to understand the functional implications to the host as a result of these changes. Specifically, do the changes in gut flora provide a new ecosystem in the gut more beneficial to long term worm survival? Do they compromise the ability of the infected individual to digest complex carbohydrates thereby leading to long-term weight loss? Finally, do these changes in gut flora have implications on the way we mount immune responses e.g. to other infectious agents or in terms of immune disease such as autoimmunity or allergy.