Abstract
The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in postnatal growth, particularly in modulating the development of animals during their growth phase. In this study, we investigated the effects of antibiotic-induced dysbiosis of the gut microbiota on the growth of weaning rats by administering a non-absorbable antibiotic cocktail (ABX) in water for 4 weeks. ABX treatment significantly reduced body weight and feed intake in rats. Concurrently, ABX treatment decreased microbial abundance and diversity in rat ceca, predominantly suppressing microbes associated with bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity. Furthermore, decreased appetite may be attributed to elevated levels of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in the serum, along with reduced neuropeptide Y (NPY) and increased cocaine and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) in the hypothalamus at the mRNA level. Importantly, concentrations of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) were decreased in the serum and liver of antibiotic-treated rats. These alterations were associated with significant down-regulation of IGF-2 mRNA in the liver and significantly decreased farnesoid X receptor (FXR) protein expression and binding to the IGF-2 promoter. These results indicate that antibiotic-induced gut microbial dysbiosis not only impacts bile acid metabolism but also diminishes rat growth through the FXR-mediated IGF-2 pathway.