Antibiotic-mediated dysbiosis leads to activation of inflammatory pathways

Abstract

Our findings demonstrate that antibiotic-mediated dysbiosis results in significantly altered short-chain fatty acid levels but immune homeostasis in spleen and MLNs at steady state is mostly preserved. Non-specific activation of splenocytes ex vivo, however, revealed mice with perturbed microbiota had significantly elevated production of TNF. Thus, this highlights antibiotic-mediated disruption of the gut microbiota may program the host towards dysregulated immune responses, predisposing to the development of TNF-associated autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease.