Observation of intestinal flora diversity with the parasites infection process in a nonlethal malaria model of BALB/c mice induced by Plasmodium yoelii 17XNL strain

Gut flora plays an important role in infectious diseases such as malaria, but few studies are conducted in the associated filed of murine malaria infected with Plasmodium yoelii 17XNL (Py 17XNL). In this study, the alteration of intestinal flora composition in BALB/c mice infected with Py 17XNL was detected. The kinetics of parasitemia was assessed at 1, 6, 9, 15, 25, and 28 days postinfection (dpi). The survival percentage was calculated to assess the mortality. The parasitemia reached the highest degree at 9 dpi and almost eliminated at 25 dpi. Interestingly, the morbidity was severe at 9 dpi, but it almost recovered at 28 dpi. Regarding the gut microbiota, the gut microbiota from BALB/c mice was examined by sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA through the Illumina MiSeq platform. The results revealed the apparent variation of operational taxonomic unit (OTU) clustering, relative abundance of microbial composition, alpha and beta diversity among the seven groups, with an increase of the alpha diversity and a decrease of beta diversity at 9 and 15 dpi, which recovered at 28 dpi. The LEfSe analysis selected potential biomarkers at genus and species levels, such as Lactobacillus gasseri in Py9 and Py15 groups, Pseudomonas veronii in Py25 group, and Lactobacillus intestinalis and Psychrobacter in Py28 group. This study offers a new insight for investigating the effect of gut microbiota on the occurrence and development of malaria, and also provides new ideas for the treatment and prevention of malaria.