Short- and Long-Term Effects of Different Antibiotics on the Gut Microbiota and Cytokines Level in Mice

Jingxia Wang; Qiangqiang Xiang; Silan Gu; Yudan Gu; Mingfei Yao; Weixin Huang; Wang Gao; Ling-Ling Tang

doi:10.2147/IDR.S388687

Short- and Long-Term Effects of Different Antibiotics on the Gut Microbiota and Cytokines Level in Mice

Infect Drug Resist. 2022 Nov 23:15:6785-6797. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S388687. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jingxia Wang^#^{1

2}, Qiangqiang Xiang^#^{1

2}, Silan Gu^#¹, Yudan Gu³, Mingfei Yao¹, Weixin Huang^{4

5}, Wang Gao⁴, Ling-Ling Tang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State 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, People's Republic of China.
² Shulan (Hangzhou) Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Shuren University, Shulan International Medical College, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.
³ Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Jinan Microecological Biomedicine Shandong Laboratory, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Shaoxing Tongchuang Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Shaoxing, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Antibiotics are the first line of treatment for infectious diseases. However, their overuse can increase the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. The present study analyzed the impact of different types of antibiotics on the gut microbiome and cytokines level of mice.

Methods: A total of five groups of 8-week-old male BALB/c mice (n = 35) were treated with piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP), ceftriaxone (CRO), tigecycline (TGC), levofloxacin (LEV) or normal saline (Ctrl), respectively, for up to 4 weeks. Fecal samples were analyzed by bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing for bacterial identification. Blood samples were used for the determination of 23 serum cytokines using multiplex immunoassay.

Results: Exposure to antibiotics was shown to affect the normal weight gain of mice. Significant changes in gut composition caused by TZP, CRO and TGC treatment included the decreased abundance of Bacteroidetes (p < 0.01), Muribaculaceae (p < 0.01) and Lachnospiraceae (p < 0.01), and the increased abundance of Proteobacteria (p < 0.05), Enterobacteriaceae (including Klebsiella and Enterobacter) (p < 0.01) and Enterococcaceae (including Enterococcus) (p < 0.01). After 4-week treatment, the TZP, CRO and LEV groups had significantly lower concentrations of several serum cytokines. Correlation analysis of the top 30 bacterial genera and cytokines showed that Enterococcus and Klebsiella were strongly positively correlated with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukins (IL) IL-12p70 and IL-1β. Desulfovibrio, Candidatus Saccharimonas, norank_f__norank_o__Clostridia_UCG-014, Lactobacillus, and Roseburia were strongly negatively correlated with these cytokines.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the effects of various antibiotics on the intestinal microflora and immune status of mice. Compared with TZP, CRO and TGC, LEV had minimal impact on the gut microbiota. In addition to TGC, long-term TZP, CRO and LEV intervention can lead to a decrease in serum cytokine levels, which may depend on the intestinal microflora, antibiotic used and the duration of treatment.

Keywords: ceftriaxone; cytokine; gut microbiota; immunity; levofloxacin; piperacillin-tazobactam; tigecycline.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the Research Project of Jinan Microecological Biomedicine Shandong Laboratory (JNL-2022014B), the National Science and Technology Major Project (No.2017ZX10204401), and the Academician Shusen Lanjuan Talent Foundation of Zhejiang University.