Early-life antibiotic exposure aggravates the development of MAFLD through perturbations in gut microbiota succession and development

Despite compelling evidence for the imprinting effect of early-life gut microbiota on the development of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), the long-term impact of early-life antibiotic exposure-induced gut microbiota perturbations on metabolic dysfunctions has yet to be clarified. Using an early-life antibiotic exposure model in BALB/c mice, we characterized the impact of prenatal and/or postnatal antibiotic exposures through maternal administration of penicillin V on the gut microbiome of offspring. Serological and histological examinations, alongside an integrated transcriptomic and lipidomic analysis, were conducted to comprehensively investigate the systemic and hepatocellular pathogenic responses in high-fat-diet-fed mice following antibiotic exposures in early life.