Grant: Project Grant

Parasitic worms that live in the guts of humans and other animals remain common in many regions of the world, and can cause major health issues. Parasitic worms can cause chronic infections that last for decades, and these parasites are able to do so because they release many molecules that impact the functioning of the mammalian immune system. Our research aims to understand the mechanisms and the molecules which parasites use to influence our immune system. In understanding these mechanisms, we can learn more about how to best treat parasite-infected people, and beyond this, we can learn more about the basic functioning of our immune system, which may help us to identify new treatment pathways to promote gut health in general. The focus of this project is to understand how parasite infection affects the production and regulation of bile acids in the intestine. Bile acids are a component of bile and are important for the digestion of fats, but also, they can act as signaling molecules which change the functioning of gut immune cells. As a model system to understand how parasite infection affects bile acids and immune cells in the gut, we will use a type of parasitic worm that infects mice, and we will examine how, and why, bile acid levels are changed between mice that are infected with a parasite or not. As an additional experimental tool, we will use diets which can alter the levels of bile acids in mice. We will examine how altering bile acid levels in the gut can influence the activation and functioning of immune cells. To our knowledge, whether and how parasitic worms alter bile acid levels has not yet been studied, and how disruption to bile acid levels during parasite infection impacts gut immune health is unknown. Our work will have importance for understanding of the impacts of parasite infection on human health, as well as more broadly adding to our understanding of the regulation of bile acids and their impact on the immune system in the intestines.