Mus musculus strain:C576BL/6J Metagenome

Increased high fat diet (HFD) intake in developing countries is known to predispose the development of several diseases associated with microbiota dysbiosis. Short-term feeding with HFD, however, is being thought to yet develop microbial imbalance. Here we show that HFD in the short-term alters the microbiota composition substantially without metabolic abnormality, suggesting an alteration of intestinal environment under this condition. We determine the effect of intestinal environment change induced by short-term HFD on the pathogenesis of enteric pathogen, Citrobacter rodentium. Under C. rodentium infection, mice fed with HFD for two weeks significantly improved host responses including the production of antimicrobial peptides and mucus, as well as interleukin-22 (IL-22)-producing immune cell response. In accordance with this, the level of C. rodentium colonization was reduced by HFD and intestinal inflammation was attenuated. In addition, Proteobacteria phylum was not increased by C. rodentium infection when mice fed with HFD. Collectively, our data reveals that HFD in the short-term provides an unfavorable environment for the pathogenesis of C. rodentium.