Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2025
Therapeutic Evaluation of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in an Interleukin 10-Deficient Mouse Model
Published on: April 6, 2022
Successful Manipulation of the Gut Microbiome to Treat Spontaneous and Induced Murine Models of Colitis
Ramya Movva1, Nida Murtaza2, Rabina Giri1
1IBD Program, Translational Research Institute, Mater Research - University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Background And Aims:
There is clinical interest in the sustainability or otherwise of prebiotic, microbial, and antibiotic treatments to both prevent and treat inflammatory bowel diseases. This study examined the role of antibiotic manipulation of the gut microbiome to treat spontaneous and induced murine models of colitis.
Methods:
Symptomatic, histological, molecular, and microbial ecology and bioinformatic readouts were used to study the effect of a 10-day antibiotic cocktail and then follow-up over 2 months in the spontaneous Winnie colitis mouse preclinical model of ulcerative colitis and also the indirect antibiotic and Winnie microbiotic gavage effects in an acute dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis model in wild-type mice.
Results:
The antibiotics elicited a striking reduction in both colitis symptoms and blinded histological colitis scores, together with a convergence of the microbial taxonomy of the spontaneous colitis and wild-type control mice, toward a taxonomic phenotype usually considered to be dysbiotic. The improvement in colitis was sustained over the following 8 weeks although the microbial taxonomy changed. In vitro, fecal waters from the antibiotic-treated colitis and wild-type mice suppressed the inflammatory tenor of colonic epithelial cells, and gavaged cecal slurries from these mice moderated the acute induced colitis.
Conclusion:
The results clearly show the possibility of a sustained remission of colitis by microbial manipulation, which is relevant to clinical management of inflammatory bowel diseases. The beneficial effects appeared to depend on the microbial metabolome rather than its taxonomy.
Insights
Antibiotic treatment significantly reduced colitis symptoms and improved histology in mice. This microbial manipulation offers sustained remission possibilities for inflammatory bowel diseases, potentially through the metabolome.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Microbiome Research
- Immunology
Background:
- Clinical interest exists in prebiotic, microbial, and antibiotic treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
- This study investigates antibiotic manipulation of the gut microbiome for treating colitis models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the therapeutic potential of antibiotic-induced gut microbiome alterations in murine models of colitis.
- To assess the sustainability of colitis remission following antibiotic treatment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized spontaneous Winnie colitis and dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis mouse models.
- Administered a 10-day antibiotic cocktail and monitored outcomes over 2 months.
- Assessed symptomatic, histological, molecular, and microbial ecology changes.
Main Results:
- Antibiotics significantly reduced colitis symptoms and histological scores.
- Microbial taxonomy shifted towards a dysbiotic phenotype, yet colitis improved.
- Sustained remission was observed for 8 weeks post-treatment.
- In vitro fecal water and in vivo cecal slurries from treated mice suppressed inflammation and moderated colitis.
Conclusions:
- Microbial manipulation, specifically via antibiotics, can induce sustained remission in colitis.
- The therapeutic benefits appear linked to the microbial metabolome, not just taxonomy.
- Findings are relevant for clinical management strategies in inflammatory bowel diseases.
