Antibiotic Changes Host Susceptibility to Eimeria falciformis Infection Associated with Alteration of Gut Microbiota

Abstract

Eimeria falciformis is a murine-infecting coccidium that mainly infects the cecum and colon where it coexists with a large number of endogenous bacteria. Here, we found that mice treated with a broad-spectrum antibiotic cocktail including ampicillin, neomycin, metronidazole, and vancomycin had less oocyst production and milder pathological consequences after E. falciformis infection than mice without antibiotics, regardless of the inoculation doses. Furthermore, we showed that antibiotic treatment reduced parasitic invasion and prolonged asexual stage during E. falciformis infection, which may result in alleviating the infection.