Abstract
The dependence of Cryptosporidium parasites on host cell metabolites suggests that the development of nutritional interventions to limit parasite proliferation should be feasible. Based on this concept, we are testing dietary interventions to affect the enterocytes' metabolism in a manner that limits intracellular multiplication of the parasite. We hypothesize that changes in the metabolic pathways encoded by the gastro-intestinal tract microbiota may restrict parasite proliferation. To identify taxonomic and metabolic features of the microbiota associated with severity of cryptosporidiosis, as determined by estimating oocyst output, we characterized the fecal microbiota from mice experimentally infected with Cryptosporidium parvum. To eliminate the confounding effect of the interaction between co-housed mice, as well as facilitate the identification of microbiota markers associated with severity of cryptosporidiosis, fecal microbiota from individually caged mice were analyzed. Variation partitioning analysis applied to 16S sequence data from 25 mice belonging to four experiments shows that experiment was by far the biggest source of microbiota variation. Severity of cryptosporidiosis explained a smaller, though significant, fraction of microbiota variation. Notably, this effect was significant in the pre-patent phase of the infection, before mice excreted oocysts. These results are consistent with the pre-patent intestinal microbiota having a modest, but measurable, effect on cryptosporidiosis.