Effects of Antibiotics on the Intestinal Microbiota of Mice

Studies on human and mouse gastrointestinal microbiota have correlated the composition of the microbiota to a variety of diseases, as well as proved it vital to prevent colonization with resistant bacteria, a phenomenon known as colonization resistance. Antibiotics dramatically modify the gut community and there are examples of how antibiotic usage lead to colonization with resistant bacteria [e.g., dicloxacillin usage selecting for ESBL-producing E. coli carriage], as shown by Hertz et al. Here, we investigated the impact of five antibiotics [cefotaxime, cefuroxime, dicloxacillin, clindamycin, and ciprofloxacin] on the intestinal microbiota in mice. Five different antibiotics were each given to groups of five mice. The intestinal microbiotas were profiled by use of the IS-pro analysis; a 16S-23S rDNA interspace [IS]-region-based profiling method. For the mice receiving dicloxacillin and clindamycin, we observed dramatic shifts in dominating phyla from day 1 to day 5. Of note, diversity increased, but overall bacterial load decreased. For ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime, and cefuroxime there were few overall changes. We speculate that antibiotics with efficacy against the abundant anaerobes in the gut, particularly Bacteroidetes, can in fact be selected for resistant bacteria, disregarding the spectrum of activity.