Effect of the Short-Term Use of Fluoroquinolone and β-Lactam Antibiotics on Mouse Gut Microbiota

Abstract

Si-Lan Gu,1,* Yiwen Gong,1,* Jiaying Zhang,1,* Yunbo Chen,1 Zhengjie Wu,1 Qiaomai Xu,1 Yunhui Fang,1 Jingxia Wang,1 Ling-Ling Tang2 1State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, People’s Republic of China; 2Shulan (Hangzhou) Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Shuren University, Shulan International Medical College, Hangzhou 310000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ling-Ling TangShulan (Hangzhou) Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Shuren University, Shulan International Medical College, Hangzhou 310000, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [email protected]: Antibiotics play an important role in the treatment of infectious diseases. However, the overuse of antibiotics increases the spread of drug-resistant bacteria and causes dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota. Few studies have addressed the longitudinal effects of antibiotics on the microbiome and host immunity.Materials and Methods: In this study, the short-term effect of fluoroquinolone (levofloxacin) and β-lactam antibiotics (meropenem, cefoperazone/sulbactam, and aztreonam) on the gut microbiota of mice was evaluated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The susceptibility of Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus lactis, Enterococcus faecium, and Clostridium butyricum to these antimicrobial agents was assessed using the disc diffusion method.Results: Our results showed that 4-day antibiotic exposure significantly reduced the alpha and beta diversity of gut bacteria and increased serum inflammatory cytokines, and these changes persisted long after antibiotic withdrawal and did not return to pre-treatment levels. Nonetheless, the bacterial community composition tended to return to pre-treatment levels after discontinuing treatment. The tested probiotic strains were resistant to aztreonam but were sensitive to meropenem and cefoperazone/sulbactam.Conclusion: Short-term antibiotic treatment led to significant changes in the intestinal flora with a tendency to recover. The antibiotics had different effects on the intestinal microbial community and probiotic strains. This study provides guidance for the concomitant use of probiotics and antibiotics, and the results emphasize the importance of using broad-spectrum antibiotics responsibly to prevent the long-term disruption of the native microbiota.Keywords: antibiotics, gut microbiota, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, probiotics

Keywords

• antibiotics
• gut microbiota
• 16s rrna gene sequence
• probiotics