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Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction-based Analyses of Murine Intestinal Microbiota After Oral Antibiotic Treatment
Published on: November 17, 2018
Amoxicillin impact on pathophysiology induced by short term high salt diet in mice
Suresh Kumar1,2, Nagarajan Perumal3, P K Yadav4
1National Institute of Biologicals, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201309, India.
Abstract:
Current evidence emerging from both human and animal models confirms that high-salt diet consumption over a period modulates the gut ecology and subsequently accelerates the development of the pathophysiology of many metabolic diseases. The knowledge of short-term intake of a high-salt diet (HSD) on gut microbiota and their role in the progression of metabolic pathogenesis and the consequence of a typical course of common antibiotics in this condition has yet not been investigated. The present study elicited this knowledge gap by studying how the gut microbiota profile changes in mice receiving HSD for a short period followed by Amoxicillin treatment on these mice in the last week to mimic a typical treatment course of antibiotics. In this study, we provided a standard chow diet (CD) and HSD for 3 weeks, and a subset of these mice on both diets received antibiotic therapy with Amoxicillin in the 3rd week. We measured the body weight of mice for 3 weeks. After 21 days, all animals were euthanised and subjected to a thorough examination for haemato-biochemical, histopathological, and 16S rRNA sequencing, followed by bioinformatics analysis to determine any changes in gut microbiota ecology. HSD exposure in mice for short duration even leads to a significant difference in the gut ecology with enrichment of specific gut microbiota crucially linked to developing the pathophysiological features of metabolic disease-related inflammation. In addition, HSD treatment showed a negative impact on haemato-biochemical parameters. However, Amoxicillin treatment in HSD-fed mice restored the blood-biochemical markers near to control values and reshaped gut microbiota known for improving the pathophysiological attributes of metabolic disease related inflammation. This study also observed minimal and insignificant pathological changes in the heart, liver, and kidney in HSD-fed mice.
Insights
A short-term high-salt diet (HSD) alters gut microbiota and metabolic health in mice. Amoxicillin treatment partially reversed these effects, improving gut ecology and biochemical markers.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Nutrition Science
- Pharmacology
Background:
- High-salt diet (HSD) consumption impacts gut microbiota and metabolic disease progression.
- The effects of short-term HSD and concurrent antibiotic use on gut ecology are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of short-term HSD on gut microbiota in mice.
- To examine the effects of Amoxicillin treatment on HSD-induced gut microbiota alterations and metabolic parameters.
Main Methods:
- Mice were fed either a standard chow diet (CD) or HSD for 3 weeks.
- A subset of mice received Amoxicillin during the final week of the study.
- Analysis included body weight, hematological and biochemical parameters, histopathology, and 16S rRNA sequencing of gut microbiota.
Main Results:
- Short-term HSD significantly altered gut microbiota composition, enriching specific bacteria linked to metabolic inflammation.
- HSD negatively affected hematological and biochemical parameters.
- Amoxicillin treatment in HSD-fed mice partially restored biochemical markers and favorably reshaped the gut microbiota.
Conclusions:
- Short-term HSD can induce significant gut dysbiosis and metabolic disturbances.
- Amoxicillin treatment may offer a therapeutic strategy to mitigate HSD-induced gut microbiota changes and associated inflammation.

