Host immunity, nutrition and coinfection alter longitudinal infection patterns of schistosomes in a free ranging African buffalo population.
Schistosomes are trematode parasites of global importance, causing infections in millions of people, livestock, and wildlife. Most studies on schistosomiasis, involve human subjects; as such, there is a paucity of longitudinal studies investigating parasite dynamics in the absence of intervention. A...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:bc9c85bb72b74b67bfee63999ea8497a 2023-05-15T15:15:06+02:00 Host immunity, nutrition and coinfection alter longitudinal infection patterns of schistosomes in a free ranging African buffalo population. Brianna R Beechler Anna E Jolles Sarah A Budischak Paul L A M Corstjens Vanessa O Ezenwa Mireya Smith Robert S Spaan Govert J van Dam Michelle L Steinauer 2017-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006122 https://doaj.org/article/bc9c85bb72b74b67bfee63999ea8497a EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5755937?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0006122 https://doaj.org/article/bc9c85bb72b74b67bfee63999ea8497a PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 11, Iss 12, p e0006122 (2017) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006122 2022-12-31T15:18:19Z Schistosomes are trematode parasites of global importance, causing infections in millions of people, livestock, and wildlife. Most studies on schistosomiasis, involve human subjects; as such, there is a paucity of longitudinal studies investigating parasite dynamics in the absence of intervention. As a consequence, despite decades of research on schistosomiasis, our understanding of its ecology in natural host populations is centered around how environmental exposure and acquired immunity influence acquisition of parasites, while very little is known about the influence of host physiology, coinfection and clearance in the absence of drug treatment. We used a 4-year study in free-ranging African buffalo to investigate natural schistosome dynamics. We asked (i) what are the spatial and temporal patterns of schistosome infections; (ii) how do parasite burdens vary over time within individual hosts; and (iii) what host factors (immunological, physiological, co-infection) and environmental factors (season, location) explain patterns of schistosome acquisition and loss in buffalo? Schistosome infections were common among buffalo. Microgeographic structure explained some variation in parasite burdens among hosts, indicating transmission hotspots. Overall, parasite burdens ratcheted up over time; however, gains in schistosome abundance in the dry season were partially offset by losses in the wet season, with some hosts demonstrating complete clearance of infection. Variation among buffalo in schistosome loss was associated with immunologic and nutritional factors, as well as co-infection by the gastrointestinal helminth Cooperia fuelleborni. Our results demonstrate that schistosome infections are surprisingly dynamic in a free-living mammalian host population, and point to a role for host factors in driving variation in parasite clearance, but not parasite acquisition which is driven by seasonal changes and spatial habitat utilization. Our study illustrates the power of longitudinal studies for discovering mechanisms ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 11 12 e0006122 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Brianna R Beechler Anna E Jolles Sarah A Budischak Paul L A M Corstjens Vanessa O Ezenwa Mireya Smith Robert S Spaan Govert J van Dam Michelle L Steinauer Host immunity, nutrition and coinfection alter longitudinal infection patterns of schistosomes in a free ranging African buffalo population. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Schistosomes are trematode parasites of global importance, causing infections in millions of people, livestock, and wildlife. Most studies on schistosomiasis, involve human subjects; as such, there is a paucity of longitudinal studies investigating parasite dynamics in the absence of intervention. As a consequence, despite decades of research on schistosomiasis, our understanding of its ecology in natural host populations is centered around how environmental exposure and acquired immunity influence acquisition of parasites, while very little is known about the influence of host physiology, coinfection and clearance in the absence of drug treatment. We used a 4-year study in free-ranging African buffalo to investigate natural schistosome dynamics. We asked (i) what are the spatial and temporal patterns of schistosome infections; (ii) how do parasite burdens vary over time within individual hosts; and (iii) what host factors (immunological, physiological, co-infection) and environmental factors (season, location) explain patterns of schistosome acquisition and loss in buffalo? Schistosome infections were common among buffalo. Microgeographic structure explained some variation in parasite burdens among hosts, indicating transmission hotspots. Overall, parasite burdens ratcheted up over time; however, gains in schistosome abundance in the dry season were partially offset by losses in the wet season, with some hosts demonstrating complete clearance of infection. Variation among buffalo in schistosome loss was associated with immunologic and nutritional factors, as well as co-infection by the gastrointestinal helminth Cooperia fuelleborni. Our results demonstrate that schistosome infections are surprisingly dynamic in a free-living mammalian host population, and point to a role for host factors in driving variation in parasite clearance, but not parasite acquisition which is driven by seasonal changes and spatial habitat utilization. Our study illustrates the power of longitudinal studies for discovering mechanisms ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Brianna R Beechler Anna E Jolles Sarah A Budischak Paul L A M Corstjens Vanessa O Ezenwa Mireya Smith Robert S Spaan Govert J van Dam Michelle L Steinauer |
author_facet |
Brianna R Beechler Anna E Jolles Sarah A Budischak Paul L A M Corstjens Vanessa O Ezenwa Mireya Smith Robert S Spaan Govert J van Dam Michelle L Steinauer |
author_sort |
Brianna R Beechler |
title |
Host immunity, nutrition and coinfection alter longitudinal infection patterns of schistosomes in a free ranging African buffalo population. |
title_short |
Host immunity, nutrition and coinfection alter longitudinal infection patterns of schistosomes in a free ranging African buffalo population. |
title_full |
Host immunity, nutrition and coinfection alter longitudinal infection patterns of schistosomes in a free ranging African buffalo population. |
title_fullStr |
Host immunity, nutrition and coinfection alter longitudinal infection patterns of schistosomes in a free ranging African buffalo population. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Host immunity, nutrition and coinfection alter longitudinal infection patterns of schistosomes in a free ranging African buffalo population. |
title_sort |
host immunity, nutrition and coinfection alter longitudinal infection patterns of schistosomes in a free ranging african buffalo population. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006122 https://doaj.org/article/bc9c85bb72b74b67bfee63999ea8497a |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 11, Iss 12, p e0006122 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5755937?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0006122 https://doaj.org/article/bc9c85bb72b74b67bfee63999ea8497a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006122 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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11 |
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12 |
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e0006122 |
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