Altered gut microbiota composition with antibiotic treatment impairs functional recovery after traumatic peripheral nerve crush injury in mice: effects of probiotics with butyrate producing bacteria

Objective: Antibiotics (ABX) are widely used for life-threatening infections and also for routine surgical operations. Compelling evidence suggests that ABX-induced alterations of gut microbiota composition, termed dysbiosis, are linked with diverse disease states including neurological and neurodegenerative conditions. To combat the consequences of dysbiosis, probiotics (PBX) are widely used. ABX-induced dysbiosis is reported to impair neurological function after spinal cord injury. Traumatic peripheral nerve injury (TPNI) results in profound neurologic impairment and permanent disability. It is unknown whether ABX treatment-induced dysbiosis has any impact on TPNI-induced functional recovery, and if so, what role medical-grade PBX could have on TPNI recovery. Results: In this study, ABX-induced dysbiosis and PBX-induced microbiota enrichment models were used to explore the potential role of gut microbiome in TPNI. Stool analysis with 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing confirmed ABX-induced dysbiosis and revealed that ABX-induced changes could be partially restored by PBX administration with an abundance of butyrate producing bacteria. Pre-injury ABX significantly impaired, but pre-injury PBX significantly improved post-TPNI functional recovery. Importantly, post-injury PBX protected against pre-injury ABX-induced functional impairment. These findings demonstrate that reestablishment of gut microbiota composition with butyrate producing PBX during ABX-induced dysbiosis could be a useful adjuvant therapy for TPNI.