Faculty Collaboration Database

Prolonged impact of antibiotics on intestinal microbial ecology and susceptibility to enteric Salmonella infection. Infect Immun 2009 Jul;77(7):2741-53

Date

04/22/2009

Pubmed ID

19380465

Pubmed Central ID

PMC2708550

DOI

10.1128/IAI.00006-09

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-67650076454 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   220 Citations

Abstract

The impact of antibiotics on the host's protective microbiota and the resulting increased susceptibility to mucosal infection are poorly understood. In this study, antibiotic regimens commonly applied to murine enteritis models are used to examine the impact of antibiotics on the intestinal microbiota, the time course of recovery of the biota, and the resulting susceptibility to enteric Salmonella infection. Molecular analysis of the microbiota showed that antibiotic treatment has an impact on the colonization of the murine gut that is site and antibiotic dependent. While combinations of antibiotics were able to eliminate culturable bacteria, none of the antibiotic treatments were effective at sterilizing the intestinal tract. Recovery of total bacterial numbers occurs within 1 week after antibiotic withdrawal, but alterations in specific bacterial groups persist for several weeks. Increased Salmonella translocation associated with antibiotic pretreatment corrects rapidly in association with the recovery of the most dominant bacterial group, which parallels the recovery of total bacterial numbers. However, susceptibility to intestinal colonization and mucosal inflammation persists when mice are infected several weeks after withdrawal of antibiotics, correlating with subtle alterations in the intestinal microbiome involving alterations of specific bacterial groups. These results show that the colonizing microbiotas are integral to mucosal host protection, that specific features of the microbiome impact different aspects of enteric Salmonella pathogenesis, and that antibiotics can have prolonged deleterious effects on intestinal colonization resistance.

Author List

Croswell A, Amir E, Teggatz P, Barman M, Salzman NH

Author

Nita H. Salzman MD, PhD Director, Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Bacteria
Bacterial Translocation
Biodiversity
Cecum
Colony Count, Microbial
Disease Susceptibility
Ecosystem
Female
Gastrointestinal Tract
Ileum
In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
Mice
Salmonella Infections, Animal