A session dedicated to Microbiota and Antibiotics

Microbiota and Antibiotics: Introduction
Dr. Maria Cecilia Giron, University of Padova, Italy

Summary: Antibiotics are life-saving medications but any time they are administered, they can cause side effects and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. Disruptions in the neuroimmune interactions between gut microbiota and enteric nervous system during critical developmental windows by antibiotic exposure, have been linked to increased susceptibility of the host to several diseases mediated by the microbiota-gut-brain axis, ranging from irritable bowel syndrome to psychiatric and neurologic disorders.

The Microbiome as a Bridge Linking Antibiotics and Intestinal Function
Valentina Caputi, University of Arkansas, USA

Summary: The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a complex multifunctional organ where commensals microbes and their related metabolites in the lumen modulate several neuronal, immune, and endocrine cellular systems in the gut wall, such as the enteric nervous system or outside the GI tract, such as the brain. The mechanisms behind this intimate crosstalk are beginning to be elucidated, and they are crucial not only for understanding the pathophysiology of functional intestinal diseases but also for identifying biomarkers that describe and help cure neurological disorders with GI comorbidities. This talk will explore the recent research on antibiotics as a tool to explore the gut microbiota-host neuro-endocrine-immune interactions and the relevance of these studies for the disorders of the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Microbial Endocrinology as a Framework for understanding the Avian Microbiome in a Post-Antibiotic World

Joshua Lyte, University of Arkansas, USA

Summary: For decades the poultry industry has supplemented feed with antibiotics in order to improve avian growth performance, maintain intestinal health, and suppress colonization by foodborne pathogens that cause severe diseases in human consumers. With this decades-old practice of antibiotic feed supplementation rapidly coming to an end, the poultry industry is examining how the microbiome can be harnessed to promote intestinal health and prevent colonization by foodborne pathogens. The evolutionary, neurochemical-based, cross-talk between the microbiome and the host, known as microbial endocrinology, provides a framework to elucidate the mechanisms by which the microbiome influences poultry health and exclusion of foodborne pathogens. As members of the microbiota both produce and recognize the same neurochemicals that are produced by the host’s intestinal nervous system and enteroendocrine cells, use of a microbial endocrinology-based context represents a unique approach to identify relevant mechanisms as well as design interventions to promote poultry health, and ultimately human health as well.