An application of metabolomics to the detection of anthelmintic resistance of gastrointestinal nematodes in goats

Anthelmintic resistance is one of the major global threats for welfare of small ruminants. Constantly higher proportions of gastrointestinal nematodes species acquire resistance to the main classes of anthelmintics, including most commonly used – benzimidazoles. While the genetic background of resistance to benzimidazoles has been well clarified, little is known about the consequences of anthelmintic resistance for metabolism of gastrointestinal nematodes. The objective of METABOL-AR project is to quantify the metabolome of the larval stages of gastrointestinal nematodes susceptible and resistant to benzimidazoles. Therefore, in the METABOL-AR project we aim to employ currently the most advanced and sophisticated tool for investigating gastrointestinal nematodes metabolome  metabolomic MxP Quant 500 XL assay allowing to quantify over 1000 metabolites from over 30 chemical classes in the larvae of gastrointestinal nematodes. Larvae will be collected from various geographical and climatic regions of Europe so that an influence of various potential confounders (such as gastrointestinal nematodes species composition, temperature, and rainfall) on gastrointestinal nematodes metabolome can be precisely studied. A main goal will be to identify a set of metabolites significantly and independently linked to the presence of resistance to benzimidazoles. In the future quantification of these metabolites could serve as a simple, rapid and accurate method for diagnosing resistance to benzimidazoles in larvae isolated from fecal samples. This would provide an alternative for traditional in vitro and in vivo tests for resistance to benzimidazoles. To achieve this objective METABOL-AR team brings together 7 partners (research institutions) from 6 different countries representing different regions of Europe with different climate from humid subtropical and maritime to temperate continental.
Additionally, the involvement of a private company as a subcontractor is assumed. Since the larvae will come from different countries the METABOL-AR will also provide a highly complex view of gastrointestinal nematodes species composition (referred to as nemabiome) and resistance to benzimidazoles prevalence and extent in various geographical and climatic regions of Europe.