ArticleParasites & vectors2020
Microbiota characterization in Blastocystis-colonized and Blastocystis-free school-age children from Colombia.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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17 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Impact of Blastocystis carriage and colonization intensity on gut microbiota composition in a non-westernized rural population from Colombia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
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- Structure analysis of human gut microbiota associated with single-celled gut protists using Next-Generation Sequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2025Article
- Blastocystis hominis; Friend or Foe.Integrative medicine (Encinitas, Calif.) · 2024Review
- Molecular Prevalence and Subtypes Distribution ofTropical medicine and infectious disease · 2024Review
- Integrated Omics Reveal the Pathogenic Potential ofTransboundary and emerging diseases · 2024Article
- Special Issue "Gut Microbioma Structure and Functions in Human Health and Disease": Editorial.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Changes in Gut Microbiota Composition Associated with the Presence of Enteric ProtistMicrobiology spectrum · 2022Article
- The regulatory function ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
- Detangling the Crosstalk BetweenFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
- Prevalence of Blastocystis and its association with Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in clinically healthy and metabolically ill subjects.BMC microbiology · 2021Article
- Frequency and distribution ofParasite epidemiology and control · 2021Article
- Blastocystis in the faeces of children from six distant countries: prevalence, quantity, subtypes and the relation to the gut bacteriome.Parasites & vectors · 2021Article
- Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBlastocystis is a protist that lives in the intestinal tract of a variety of hosts, including humans. It is still unclear how Blastocystis causes disease, which presents an ongoing challenge for researchers. Despite the controversial findings on the association between Blastocystis and clinical digestive manifestations, there is currently no consensus as to whether this protozoan actually behaves as a pathogen in humans. Furthermore, the relationship between Blastocystis and the intestinal microbiota composition is not yet clear. For that reason, the aim of this study was to identify if colonization by Blastocystis is related to changes in the diversity and relative abundance of bacterial communities, compared with those of Blastocystis-free individuals in a group of Colombian children.
methodsWe took stool samples from 57 school-aged children attending a daycare institution in Popayán (Southwest Colombia). Whole DNA was extracted and examined by 16S-rRNA amplicon-based sequencing. Blastocystis was detected by real time PCR and other intestinal parasites were detected by microscopy. We evaluated if Blastocystis was associated with host variables and the diversity and abundance of microbial communities.
resultsThe composition of the intestinal bacterial community was not significantly different between Blastocystis-free and Blastocystis-colonized children. Despite this, we observed a higher microbial richness in the intestines of children colonized by Blastocystis, which could, therefore, be considered a benefit to intestinal health. The phylum Firmicutes was the predominant taxonomic unit in both groups analyzed. In Blastocystis-free individuals, there was a higher proportion of Bacteroidetes; similarly, in children colonized by Blastocystis, there was a higher relative abundance of the phylum Proteobacteria; however, no statistically significant differences were found between the comparison groups.
conclusionsThe presence of Blastocystis showed a decrease in Bacteroides, and an increase in the relative abundance of the genus Faecalibacterium. It was also evident that the presence of Blastocystis was unrelated to dysbiosis at the intestinal level; on the contrary, its presence did not show statistically differences in the intestinal microbiota composition. Nevertheless, we believe that Blastocystis plays a role in the ecology of the intestinal microbiota through its interaction with other microbial components.
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