ArticlePloS one2018
Efficient and reproducible experimental infections of rats with Blastocystis spp.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quantitative detection of gut microbial eukaryotes with EukDetect2 reveals global distribution of commensal protists and association with distinct microbial community structure.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Commensal, pathogen, or passenger? Rethinking the role ofOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Review
- Advances in the axenic isolation methods ofParasitology · 2024Review
- Levels of Genetic Variants Among Symptomatic Blastocystis Subtypes and their Relationship to Mucosal Immune Surveillance in the Precancerous Colons of Experimentally Infected Rats.Acta parasitologica · 2023Article
- Influence ofJournal of parasitic diseases : official organ of the Indian Society for Parasitology · 2022Article
- Article
- Comparison of DNA Extraction Methods and Real-Time PCR Assays for the Detection ofMicroorganisms · 2020Article
- First molecular subtyping and phylogeny of Blastocystis sp. isolated from domestic and synanthropic animals (dogs, cats and brown rats) in southern Iran.Parasites & vectors · 2020Article
- Fecal dysbiosis associated with colonic hypersensitivity and behavioral alterations in chronically Blastocystis-infected rats.Scientific reports · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Although Blastocystis spp. infect probably more than 1 billion people worldwide, their clinical significance is still controversial and their pathophysiology remains poorly understood. In this study, we describe a protocol for an efficient and reproducible model of chronic infection in rats, laying the groundwork for future work to evaluate the pathogenic potential of this parasite. In our experimental conditions, we were unable to infect rats using vacuolar forms of an axenically cultivated ST4 isolate, but we successfully established chronic infections of 4 week-old rats after oral administration of both ST3 and ST4 purified cysts isolated from human stool samples. The infection protocol was also applied to 4 week-old C57BL/9, BALB/C and C3H mice, but any mouse was found to be infected by Blastocystis. Minimal cyst inoculum required for rat infection was higher with ST3 (105) than with ST4 (102). These results were confirmed by co-housing experiments highlighting a higher contagious potential of ST4 in rats compared to ST3. Finally, experiments mimicking fecal microbiota transfer from infected to healthy animals showed that Blastocystis spp. could easily infect a new host, even though its intestinal microbiota is not disturbed. In conclusion, our results provide a well-documented and robust rat model of Blastocystis chronic infection, reproducing "natural" infection. This model will be of great interest to study host parasite interactions and to better evaluate clinical significance of Blastocystis.
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