The presence of some species of helminths is associated with changes in host microbiota composition and diversity, which varies widely depending on the infecting helminth species and other factors. We conducted a prospective case-control study to evaluate the gut microbiota in children with Opisthorchis felineus infection (n=50) before and after anthelmintic treatment and in uninfected children (n=49) in the endemic region. A total of 99 children and adolescents aged between 7 and 18 years were enrolled to the study. Helminth infection was assessed before and at 3 months after treatment with praziquantel. A complex examination for each participant was performed in the study, including an assessment of the clinical symptoms and an intestinal microbiota survey by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of stool samples. There was no change in alpha diversity between O. felineus-infected and control groups. We found significant changes in the abundances of bacterial taxa at different taxonomic levels between the infected and uninfected individuals. Enterobacteriaceae family was more abundant in infected participants compared to uninfected children. On the genus level, O. felineus-infected participants’ microbiota showed higher levels of Lachnospira, Escherichia-Shigella, Bacteroides, Eubacterium eligens group, Ruminiclostridium 6, Barnesiella, Oscillibacter, Faecalitalea and Anaerosporobacter and reduction of Blautia, Lachnospiraceae FCS020 and Eubacterium hallii group in comparison with the uninfected individuals. Following praziquantel therapy, there were significant differences in abundances of some microorganisms, including an increase of Faecalibacterium and decrease of Megasphaera, Roseburia. Enterobacteriaceae and Escherichia abundances were decreased up to the control group values. Our results highlight the importance of the host-parasite-microbiota interactions for the community health in the endemic regions.

某些蠕虫物种的存在与宿主微生物群组成和多样性的变化有关，其变化取决于感染的蠕虫物种和其他因素。我们进行了一项前瞻性病例对照研究，评估了在驱虫治疗之前和之后，猫瘟Opisthorchis felineus感染儿童（n = 50）和未感染儿童（n= 49）在流行地区。共有99名7至18岁的儿童和青少年参加了研究。在吡喹酮治疗之前和之后三个月评估蠕虫感染。在研究中对每个参与者进行了一次复杂的检查，包括对临床症状的评估和通过粪便样本的16S rRNA基因测序进行的肠道菌群调查。感染猫科猫和对照组之间的α多样性没有变化。我们发现在感染和未感染的个体之间，在不同分类学水平下细菌类群的丰度发生了显着变化。与未感染的儿童相比，被感染的肠杆菌科家族更为丰富。在属水平上，猫科动物感染的参与者的微生物群表现出较高的Lachnospira，大肠杆菌，志贺氏菌，拟杆菌，Eubacterium eligens组，Ruminiclostridium 6，Barnesiella，Oscillibacter，Faecalitalea和Anaerosporobacter的水平较高，而与Blautia， Lachnospiraceae FCS020和Halliiinfect感染的组相比，Blautia， Lachnospiraceae FCS020个体的减少。吡喹酮治疗后，某些微生物的丰度存在显着差异，包括Faecalibacterium的增加和Megasphaera，Roseburia的减少。肠杆菌科和大肠杆菌丰度降低至对照组值。我们的结果凸显了宿主-寄生虫-微生物群落相互作用对流行地区社区健康的重要性。