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Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Isolation and Analysis of Brain-sequestered Leukocytes from Plasmodium berghei ANKA-infected Mice
Published on: January 2, 2013
Plasmodium berghei ANKA causes intestinal malaria associated with dysbiosis
Tomoyo Taniguchi1,2, Eiji Miyauchi3, Shota Nakamura4
1Department of Parasitology, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, 3-39-22, Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
Abstract:
Gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain and diarrhea, are frequently observed in patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria. However, the correlation between malaria intestinal pathology and intestinal microbiota has not been investigated. In the present study, infection of C57BL/6 mice with P. berghei ANKA (PbA) caused intestinal pathological changes, such as detachment of epithelia in the small intestines and increased intestinal permeability, which correlated with development with experimental cerebral malaria (ECM). Notably, an apparent dysbiosis occurred, characterized by a reduction of Firmicutes and an increase in Proteobacteria. Furthermore, some genera of microbiota correlated with parasite growth and/or ECM development. By contrast, BALB/c mice are resistant to ECM and exhibit milder intestinal pathology and dysbiosis. These results indicate that the severity of cerebral and intestinal pathology coincides with the degree of alteration in microbiota. This is the first report demonstrating that malaria affects intestinal microbiota and causes dysbiosis.
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