Antibiotic-induced acceleration of Type 1 diabetes alters intestinal innate pathway maturation

The early-life intestinal microbiota plays a key role in shaping host immune system development. We found that a single early-life antibiotic course (1PAT) accelerated Type 1 diabetes (T1D) development in male NOD mice. The single course had strong and persistent effects on the intestinal microbiome, selecting for a highly metabolically active metagenome, with altered hepatic and serum metabolites. The exposure led to differential ileal and hepatic histone modification, and perturbed ileal gene expression, strongly affecting the normal maturational pattern. Earliest effects involved specific genes in innate immune pathways, with later effects on adaptive immunity. Microbiome analysis revealed four potential T1D-protective taxa and four T1D-accelerating taxa, and a network linking specific microbial taxa to differences in ileal gene expression was identified. This simplified animal model has improved understanding of the mechanisms by which early-life gut microbiome perturbations alter host intestinal responses, contributing to T1D.