부산대학교 도서관

Plasmodium(malaria) and helminth parasite coinfections are frequent, and both infections can be affected by the host gut microbiota. However, the relationship between coinfection and the gut microbiota is unclear. By performing comprehensive analyses on blood/stool samples from 130 individuals in Colombia, we found that the gut microbiota may have a stronger relationship with the number of P. vivax(malaria) parasites than with the number of helminth parasites infecting a host. Microbiota analysis identified more predictors of the P. vivaxparasite burden, whereas analysis of blood samples identified predictors of the helminth parasite burden. These results were unexpected, because we expected each parasite to be associated with greater differences in its biological niche (blood for P. vivaxand the intestine for helminths). Instead, we find that bacterial taxa were the strongest predictors of P. vivaxparasitemia levels, while circulating TGF-β levels were the strongest predictor of helminth parasite burdens.