Fecal microbiota transplantation modulates the intestinal microbiome and alleviates Escherichia coli infected outcomes in mice

Abstract

Abstract Background: Given the crucial role of gut microbiota in animal and human health, studies on modulating the intestinal microbiome for therapeutic purposes have absorbed significant attention, of which the role of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been emphasized. Methods: In the current study, we evaluated the effect of FMT on Escherichia coli (E.coli) infected mice from the perspective of analysis of body weight loss, mortality, intestinal histopathology and immunohistochemistry, and the gut microbiome. Results: Results showed that FMT effectively decreased weight loss and mortality in infected mice to a certain extent, relieving the damaged structure of the intestinal villi driven by infection. Furthermore, the abundance of bacteria health-threatening, such as phylum Proteobacteria, family Enterobacteriaceae, Tannerellaceae, genus Escherichia-Shigella, Sphingomonas, Collinsella etc., were significantly increased, whereas those of beneficial bacteria (phylum Firmicutes, family Lactobacillaceae, genus Lactobacillus) were decreased in gut of infected mice. Moreover, we sought to investigate if the amelioration of clinical symptoms with FMT treatment in infected mice was associated with modulation in disordered gut microbiota. According to beta diversity, the microbial community results reflected the similarities between non-infected and FMT mice’s gut microbiota. The improvement of the intestinal microbiota following FMT was characterized by the significantly increased beneficial microorganisms and the synergistic decrease of Escherichia-Shigella, Acinetobacter, etc. Conclusion: These findings suggest a beneficial host-microbiome correlation might be built following FMT to relieve gut infections and pathogens-associated diseases.