Perturbation of the Small Intestine Microbial Ecology by Streptomycin Alters Pathology in a Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Murine Model of Infection

The small intestine is an important site of infection for many enteric bacterial pathogens, and murine models, including the streptomycin-treated mouse model of infection, are frequently used to study these infections. The environment of the mouse small intestine and the microbiota with which enteric pathogens are likely to interact, however, have not been well described. Therefore, we compared the microbiota and the concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) present in the ileum and cecum of streptomycin-treated mice and untreated controls. We found that the microbiota in the ileum of untreated mice differed greatly from that of the cecum of the same mice, primarily among families of the phylum Firmicutes. Upon treatment with streptomycin, substantial changes in the microbial composition occurred, with a marked loss of population complexity. Characterization of the metabolic products of the microbiota, the SCFAs, showed that formate was present in the ileum but low or not detectable in the cecum while butyrate was present in the cecum but not the ileum. Treatment with streptomycin altered the SCFAs in the cecum, significantly decreasing the concentration of acetate, propionate, and butyrate. In this work, we also characterized the pathology of Salmonella infection in the ileum. Infection of streptomycin-treated mice with Salmonella was characterized by a significant increase in the relative and absolute levels of the pathogen and was associated with more severe ileal inflammation and pathology. Together these results provide a better understanding of the ileal environment in the mouse and the changes that occur upon streptomycin treatment.