# Schistosoma mansoni infection causes consistent changes to the fecal bacterial microbiota of mice across and within sites

## TL;DR

This study shows that Schistosoma mansoni infection consistently alters the gut microbiome of mice, regardless of location or time of infection.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates consistent microbiome changes across institutions and timepoints in mice infected with S. mansoni.

## Key findings

- Acute and chronic S. mansoni infection alters the fecal microbiome of mice.
- Microbiome changes are consistent across two institutions and three timepoints.
- The study highlights the reproducibility of microbiome responses to schistosomiasis.

## Abstract

Eggs of Schistosoma mansoni are produced by adult female worms in mesenteries of infected hosts. Eggs can cross the intestinal barrier and form granulomas in the tissue or breach and exit the host through fecal excretion. These interactions may affect the host microbiome assemblages. Given the potential for schistosomal alteration of host gut microbiome and subsequent effects on the fecal bacterial composition, it is important to conduct controlled microbiome studies on model animals. While pursuing these studies, it is important to take into account the different conditions in which microbiome studies are conducted and their consequent impacts on variability and reproducibility of results. In particular, we are interested in inter-institutional effects on controlled microbiome studies, in which the study location itself may impact study outcomes. In this work, we report global changes caused by acute and chronic schistosomiasis on the fecal microbiome of mice at two different institutions and three timepoints.