Effect of gastric fluid aspiration on the lung microbiota of laboratory rats

Chronic exposure to ampicillin alters lung microbial composition in laboratory rat

PURPOSE

High-throughput sequencing technologies have revealed that the lungs contain a variety of low biomass microbiota associated with various lung diseases. Rat model is an important tool to understand the possible causal relationship between pulmonary microbiota and diseases. Antibiotic exposure can alter the microbiota, however, a direct influence of long-term ampicillin exposure on commensal bacteria of healthy lungs has not been investigated, which could be useful in the study of the relation between microbiome and long-term lung diseases, especially in animal model-making of lung diseases.

METHODS

The rats were aerosolized ampicillin of different concentrations for five months, and then the effect on the lung microbiota was investigated using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

RESULTS

The ampicillin treatment by a certain concentration (LA5, 0.2 ml of 5 mg/ml ampicillin) administration leads to profound changes in the rat lung microbiota but not in the low critical ampicillin concentration (LA01 and LA1, 0.1 and 1 mg/ml ampicillin), when compared to the untreated group (LC). The genus Acidobacteria_Gp16 dominated the ampicillin treated lung microbiota while the genera Brucella, Acinetobacter, Acidobacteria_Gp14, Sphingomonas, and Tumebacillus dominated the untreated lung microbiota. The predicted KEGG pathway analysis profile revealed some difference in the ampicillin treated group.

CONCLUSIONS

The study demonstrated the effects of different concentrations of ampicillin treatment on lung microbiota of rats in a relatively long term. It could serve as a basis for the clinical use of antibiotic and the use of ampicillin to control certain bacteria in the animal model-making of respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Effect of invasive mechanical ventilation on the diversity of the pulmonary microbiota

Pulmonary microbial diversity may be influenced by biotic or abiotic conditions (e.g., disease, smoking, invasive mechanical ventilation (MV), etc.). Specially, invasive MV may trigger structural and physiological changes in both tissue and microbiota of lung, due to gastric and oral microaspiration, altered body posture, high O2 inhalation-induced O2 toxicity in hypoxemic patients, impaired airway clearance and ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI), which in turn reduce the diversity of the pulmonary microbiota and may ultimately lead to poor prognosis. Furthermore, changes in (local) O2 concentration can reduce the diversity of the pulmonary microbiota by affecting the local immune microenvironment of lung. In conclusion, systematic literature studies have found that invasive MV reduces pulmonary microbiota diversity, and future rational regulation of pulmonary microbiota diversity by existing or novel clinical tools (e.g., lung probiotics, drugs) may improve the prognosis of invasive MV treatment and lead to more effective treatment of lung diseases with precision.

Methods in Lung Microbiome Research

The lung microbiome is associated with host immune response and health outcomes in experimental models and patient cohorts. Lung microbiome research is increasing in volume and scope; however, there are no established guidelines for study design, conduct, and reporting of lung microbiome studies. Standardized approaches to yield reliable and reproducible data that can be synthesized across studies will ultimately improve the scientific rigor and impact of published work and greatly benefit microbiome research. In this review, we identify and address several key elements of microbiome research: conceptual modeling and hypothesis framing; study design; experimental methodology and pitfalls; data analysis; and reporting considerations. Finally, we explore possible future directions and research opportunities. Our goal is to aid investigators who are interested in this burgeoning research area and hopefully provide the foundation for formulating consensus approaches in lung microbiome research.

The effect of levofloxacin on the lung microbiota of laboratory rats

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the short-term effect of levofloxacin on the microbiota of healthy lungs. Material and methods: Male F344 rats received either no levofloxacin (n = 9), intravenous levofloxacin (n = 12), oral levofloxacin (n = 12), or subcutaneous levofloxacin (n = 14). Rats received a clinically applicable dose (5.56 mg/kg) of levofloxacin via the assigned delivery route once daily for three days. On day four, lung tissue was collected and the lung microbiota composition was investigated using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Results: Untreated lungs showed a microbiota dominated by bacteria of the genera Serratia. After treatment with levofloxacin, bacteria of the genus Pantoea dominated the lung microbiota. This was observed for all routes of antibiotic administration, with a significant difference compared to no-antibiotic control group (PERMANOVA: P < 0.001; homogeneity of dispersions: P = 0.656). Conclusion: Our study is the first to demonstrate the effects of levofloxacin therapy on lung microbiota in laboratory rats. Levofloxacin treatment by any route of administration leads to profound changes in the rat lung microbiota, resulting in the predominance of bacteria belonging to the genus Pantoea. Further studies regarding the role of long-term application of broad spectrum antibiotics on induction of lung, allergic and autoimmune diseases are indicated.