Toxoplasma gondii primarily invades the central nervous system, causing latent infections. Cysts persist in the host for life and there is currently no effective treatment. T. gondii infects human hosts through contaminated meat, invading the intestinal tissue and leading to changes in the number and composition of the gut microbiota. Since probiotic ingestion modulates intestinal microbiota changes, we hypothesized that intestinal microbiota dysbiosis caused by T. gondii infection would be restored following probiotic supplementation. To this end, we orally infected C57BL/6 mice with 10 T. gondii cysts and administered supplemental probiotics daily. We analyzed the levels of T. gondii B1 gene DNA, indicative of T. gondii infection, in brain tissue. We investigated alterations in the gut microbiota composition and functional pathways between the probiotic and non-probiotic treatment groups via next-generation sequencing analysis of each fecal sample. The infection level in the probiotic-treated group was significantly reduced after 4 weeks (p<0.05). Probiotic supplementation notably changed the gut microbiota after 2 weeks of infection, increasing the relative abundance of Intestinimonas massiliensis and Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus. Probiotic supplements appear to modulate the gut microbiota, activating functional pathways involved in intestinal short-chain fatty acid production and strengthening the intestinal barrier, thereby impeding T. gondii infection and subsequent proliferation. Our findings provide valuable insights into T. gondii infection control and future study directions.
Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii; microbiota; next-generation sequencing; probiotics.