Comparative analysis of beneficial effects of Vancomycin treatment on Th1- and Th2-biased mice and role of gut microbiota

Abstract

AimsVancomycin, an antibiotic, is used to treat infection of multi-drug resistant strains of Clostridium difficile and Staphylococcus. Post-usage effects of vancomycin may lead to many unwanted effects including perturbation of gut microbiota. Perturbation of the gut microbiota, by Vancomycin, was used to understand the altered metabolic and innate immune profile of C57BL/6(Th1-biased) and BALB/c (Th2-biased) mice. Methods and ResultsFollowing treatment with vancomycin till day 4, we observed reduction in abundance of phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroides and increase in Proteobacteria in the gut for both strains of mice. Results further revealed a significant increase in the phylum Verrucomicrobia, from day 5 onwards following treatment with vancomycin led to decreased inflammation and increased rate of glucose tolerance in the host. ConclusionsContinued dosage of vancomycin was more beneficial in C57BL/6 than BALB/c mice Significance and Impact of the studyThe current study established that initial doses of vancomycin increased pathogenic bacteria but the continued doses of vancomycin provided significant health-related benefits to the host by decreasing pathogenic load and by increasing beneficial microbes of Verrucomicrobia phylum (A. muciniphila) more in C57BL/6 (Th-1) than BALB/c (Th-2) mice.