Dietary tryptophan rescues growth impairment during giardiasis independently of parasite burden

Dietary tryptophan supplementation rescues Giardia duodenalis–associated weight gain impairment in C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice on a low-protein diet, without reducing infection burden.

• Why it matters: Giardia infection is linked to intestinal barrier dysfunction and childhood growth stunting, but it is unclear which nutritional factors help maintain epithelial homeostasis during infection.
• What they did: In established murine giardiasis malnutrition models, mice were fed low-protein or regular protein diets with tryptophan or glycine supplementation, and host growth and intestinal AHR activity (Cyp1a1 expression) were measured.
• The result: Tryptophan restored weight gain and increased intestinal Cyp1a1 expression, while glycine did not; infection burden stayed unchanged, implying local AHR-linked signaling may underlie the growth rescue.

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