Modulation of the porcine intestinal microbiota in the course of Ascaris suum infection.

Background: The porcine roundworm Ascaris suum impairs feed conversion and weight gain, but its effects on intestinal microbiota remain largely unexplored.

Methods: Modulation of the intestinal microbiota was assessed in pigs that were infected once with 10,000 A. suum eggs and pigs that received a trickle infection (1000 eggs/day over 10 days), compared with a non-infected control group.

Effects of adult and their antigens (total and trans-cuticular excretory-secretory antigen, cuticular somatic antigen) on intestinal nutrient transport .

constitutes a major problem in commercial pig farming worldwide. Lower weight gains in infected pigs probably result from impaired nutrient absorption. This study investigated intestinal nutrient transport in 4 groups of 6 pigs each, which were inoculated with 30 living adult , or antigen fractions consisting of (1) total excretory–secretory (ES) antigens of adult worms, (2) ES antigens secreted exclusively from the parasites' body surface (trans-cuticular ES) and (3) cuticular somatic antigens of , compared to placebo-treated controls.

Nutrient Uptake and Metabolic Release, and Modulation of Host Intestinal Nutrient Transport by Excretory-Secretory and Cuticle Antigens In Vitro.

, the most important pig parasite, also infects humans as a zoonotic pathogen. Malabsorption upon infection probably results from impaired nutrient transport, presumably mediated by the parasite's excretory-secretory (ES) or cuticle somatic (CSO) antigens. The present study investigated the electrogenic transport (ΔI) of glucose, alanine and the dipeptide glycyl-l-glutamine (glygln), as well as glucose net flux rates in pig jejunal tissue after in vitro exposure to adult total ES or CSO antigens in Ussing chambers.

Changes in porcine nutrient transport physiology in response to Ascaris suum infection.

Background: The roundworm Ascaris suum is one of the parasites with the greatest economic impact on pig farming. In this context, lower weight gain is hypothesized to be due to decreased nutrient absorption. This study aims at characterizing the effects of A.