Abstract:
Trichinella infections have been documented globally and have been detected in
wild and/or domestic animals except Antarctica. There is paucity of information in
the metabolic responses of hosts during Trichinella infections and biomarkers for
infection that can be used in the diagnosis of the disease. The current study aimed
to apply a non-targeted metabolomic approach to identify Trichinella
zimbabwensis biomarkers including metabolic response from sera of infected
Sprague-Dawley rats. Fifty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly
assigned into T. zimbabwensis infected group (n = 36) and the non-infected
control (n = 18). Results from the study showed that the metabolic signature of T.
zimbabwensis infection consists of enriched methyl histidine metabolism,
disturbance of the liver urea cycle, impeded TCA cycle, and upregulation of
gluconeogenesis metabolism. The observed disturbance in the metabolic
pathways was attributed to the effects caused by the parasite during its
migration to the muscles resulting in downregulation of amino acids
intermediates in the Trichinella-infected animals, and therefore affecting
energy production and degradation of biomolecules. It was concluded that T.
zimbabwensis infection caused an upregulation of amino acids; pipecolic acid,
histidine, and urea, and upregulation of glucose and meso-Erythritol. Moreover, T.
zimbabwensis infection caused upregulation of the fatty acids, retinoic acid, and
acetic acid. These findings highlight the potential of metabolomics as a novel
approach for fundamental investigations of host-pathogen interactions as well as
for disease progression and prognosis.
