Mouse Antibiotic Treatment and Microbiome Reconstitution

Exp ID# ABC40 and ABC50 were performed to evaluate the impact of depletion of subsets of the microbiota on colonic protein expression. In these studies, 8-12 week old female wild-type C57/BL6J SPF mice were treated with individual antibiotic (ampicillin, vancomycin, neomycin, or metronidazole), antibiotic cocktail (ampicillin + vancomycin + neomycin + metronidazole = AVNM) or plain water as a control, for 10 days, at which point freshly voided fecal samples were collected. Exp ID# ABC99, ABC155, and ABC167 were performed to evaluate reconstitution of antibiotic cocktail (AVNM)-treated mice by microbiota of cagemate mice via coprophagy and resulting impact on colonic protein expression. In these studies, 8-12 week old female wild-type C57/BL6J SPF mice were treated with individual antibiotic (vancomycin or neomycin), antibiotic cocktail (AVNM), or plain water control for 7 days, at which point freshly voided fecal samples were collected. AVNM-treated mice were then introduced into cages of mice containing individual antibiotic (vancomycin or neomycin)-, antibiotic cocktail (AVNM)-, or plain water-treated mice and housed for an additional 7 days with continued antibiotic delivery. Freshly voided fecal samples were collected after these additional 7 days (day 14 overall).