Prevention of antibiotic-associated metabolic syndrome in mice by intestinal alkaline phosphatase.

AIMS: To examine whether co-administration of intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) with antibiotics early in life may have a preventive role against metabolic syndrome (MetS) in mice. METHODS: A total of 50 mice were allocated to four treatment groups after weaning. Mice were treated with azithromycin (AZT) ± IAP, or with no AZT ± IAP, for three intermittent 7-day cycles. After the last treatment course, the mice were administered a regular chow diet for 5 weeks and subsequently a high-fat diet for 5 weeks. Body weight, food intake, water intake, serum lipids, glucose levels and liver lipids were compared. 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing was used to determine the differences in microbiome composition. RESULTS: Exposure to AZT early in life rendered mice susceptible to MetS in adulthood. Co-administration of IAP with AZT completely prevented this susceptibility by decreasing total body weight, serum lipids, glucose levels and liver lipids to the levels of control mice. These effects of IAP probably occur as a result of changes in the composition of specific bacterial taxa at the genus and species levels (e.g. members of Anaeroplasma and Parabacteroides). CONCLUSIONS: Co-administration of IAP with AZT early in life prevents mice from susceptibility to the later development of MetS. This effect is associated with alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota. IAP may represent a novel treatment against MetS in humans.

Omega-3 fatty acids prevent early-life antibiotic exposure-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis and later-life obesity.

Early-life antibiotic exposure can disrupt the founding intestinal microbial community and lead to obesity later in life. Recent studies show that omega-3 fatty acids can reduce body weight gain and chronic inflammation through modulation of the gut microbiota. We hypothesize that increased tissue levels of omega-3 fatty acids may prevent antibiotic-induced alteration of gut microbiota and obesity later in life. Here, we utilize the fat-1 transgenic mouse model, which can endogenously produce omega-3 fatty acids and thereby eliminates confounding factors of diet, to show that elevated tissue levels of omega-3 fatty acids significantly reduce body weight gain and the severity of insulin resistance, fatty liver and dyslipidemia resulting from early-life exposure to azithromycin. These effects were associated with a reversal of antibiotic-induced dysbiosis of gut microbiota in fat-1 mice. These results demonstrate the beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids on antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis and obesity, and suggest the potential utility of omega-3 supplementation as a safe and effective means for the prevention of obesity in children who are exposed to antibiotics.

Adequacy of commercial lentogenic vaccines against Canadian strains of viscerotropic Newcastle disease virus.

Three field strains of Newcastle Disease virus, designated S20, S21 and S23, isolated from chickens or turkeys in Ontario during the 1971-72 epizootic, were characterized as velogenic viscerotropic viruses. No significant antigenic differences were demonstrated among B1, LaSota and a field strain (S23) of velogenic vescerotropic virus by haemagglutination inhibition or protection tests. Primary water vaccination of chicks with commercial B1 and LaSota vaccines at five weeks of age and aerosol revaccination with the same strains four weeks later resulted in protection that lasted 16 weeks after revaccination against experimental challenge with strain S23. The differences in haemagglutination inhibition titres noted when the homologous or the heterologous viruses were used as haemagglutinating antigen were not statistically significant. The rates of decay of virus neutralizing and haemagglutination inhibition antibodies in vaccinated birds showed a divergence indicating the possible duality of antibodies measured in serum neutralization and haemagglutination inhibition tests.