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. 2023 Jan-Dec;15(1):2201154.
doi: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2201154.

Kinetic and mechanistic diversity of intestinal immune homeostasis characterized by rapid removal of gut bacteria

Da-Jung Jung  1 , Ledia Gebremedhin  1 , Byoungsook Goh  1 , Ji-Sun Yoo  1 , Francesca Gazzaniga  2 , Dennis L Kasper  2 , Sungwhan F Oh  1   3
Affiliations

Kinetic and mechanistic diversity of intestinal immune homeostasis characterized by rapid removal of gut bacteria

Da-Jung Jung et al. Gut Microbes. 2023 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

Symbiotic microbiota critically contribute to host immune homeostasis in effector cell-specific manner. For exclusion of microbial component, germ-free animals have been the gold standard method. However, total removal of the entire gut microbiota of an animal from birth significantly skews physiological development. On the other hand, removal of gut microbiota from conventional mice using oral antibiotics has its own limitations, especially lack of consistency and the requirement for long-term treatment period. Here, we introduce an improved regimen to quickly remove gut microbiota and to maintain sterility, that is well received by animals without refusal. Rapid and consistent exclusion of resident bacteria in the gut lumen revealed kinetic differences among colonic lymphocyte subsets, which cannot be observed with typical germ-free animal models. Furthermore, the proposed method distinguished the mechanism of microbiota contribution as a direct stimulus to capable effector cells and a homeostatic cue to maintain such cell types.

Keywords: Germ-free mice; antibiotic treatment; gut microbiota; mucosal immunology.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
VGMbA treatment does not affect mice health and rapidly and efficiently removes gut bacteria.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Rapid removal of microbiota shows different kinetics of colonic immune cells.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Long-term antibiotic treatment delays IgA responses against re-introduction of gut bacteria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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