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Ballal, Sonia

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Ballal

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Sonia

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Ballal, Sonia

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2014 - 20162

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Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.1796aae1-514c-453e-8f37-d7675d47c8ca

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    Gut microbiome composition and function in experimental colitis during active disease and treatment-induced remission
    (Springer Nature, 2014) Rooks, Michelle G; Veiga, Patrick; Wardwell-Scott, Leslie H; Tickle, Timothy; Segata, Nicola; Michaud, Monia; Gallini, Carey; Beal, Chloé; van Hylckama-Vlieg, Johan ET; Ballal, Sonia; Morgan, Xochitl C; Glickman, Jonathan; Gevers, Dirk; Huttenhower, Curtis; Garrett, Wendy
    Dysregulated immune responses to gut microbes are central to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and gut microbial activity can fuel chronic inflammation. Examining how IBD-directed therapies influence gut microbiomes may identify microbial community features integral to mitigating disease and maintaining health. However, IBD patients often receive multiple treatments during disease flares, confounding such analyses. Preclinical models of IBD with well-defined disease courses and opportunities for controlled treatment exposures provide a valuable solution. Here, we surveyed the gut microbiome of the T-bet−/− Rag2−/− mouse model of colitis during active disease and treatment-induced remission. Microbial features modified among these conditions included altered potential for carbohydrate and energy metabolism and bacterial pathogenesis, specifically cell motility and signal transduction pathways. We also observed an increased capacity for xenobiotics metabolism, including benzoate degradation, a pathway linking host adrenergic stress with enhanced bacterial virulence, and found decreased levels of fecal dopamine in active colitis. When transferred to gnotobiotic mice, gut microbiomes from mice with active disease versus treatment-induced remission elicited varying degrees of colitis. Thus, our study provides insight into specific microbial clades and pathways associated with health, active disease and treatment interventions in a mouse model of colitis.
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    Ecological robustness of the gut microbiota in response to ingestion of transient food-borne microbes
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Zhang, Chenhong; Derrien, Muriel; Levenez, Florence; Brazeilles, Rémi; Ballal, Sonia; Kim, Jason; Degivry, Marie-Christine; Quéré, Gaëlle; Garault, Peggy; van Hylckama Vlieg, Johan E T; Garrett, Wendy; Doré, Joël; Veiga, Patrick
    Resident gut microbes co-exist with transient bacteria to form the gut microbiota. Despite increasing evidence suggesting a role for transient microbes on gut microbiota function, the interplay between resident and transient members of this microbial community is poorly defined. We aimed to determine the extent to which a host's autochthonous gut microbiota influences niche permissivity to transient bacteria using a fermented milk product (FMP) as a vehicle for five food-borne bacterial strains. Using conventional and gnotobiotic rats and gut microbiome analyses (16S rRNA genes pyrosequencing and reverse transcription qPCR), we demonstrated that the clearance kinetics of one FMP bacterium, Lactococcus lactis CNCM I-1631, were dependent on the structure of the resident gut microbiota. Susceptibility of the resident gut microbiota to modulation by FMP intervention correlated with increased persistence of L. lactis. We also observed gut microbiome configurations that were associated with altered stability upon exposure to transient bacteria. Our study supports the concept that allochthonous bacteria have transient and subject-specific effects on the gut microbiome that can be leveraged to re-engineer the gut microbiome and improve dysbiosis-related diseases.