Abstract
Mice receiving low doses of certain antibiotics gain weight and accumulate fat. This could be because some gut bacteria survive the treatment better than others, shifting digestion towards greater energy provision. See Article p.621 Continuous treatment with low levels of antibiotics has for decades been used to enhance body weight in livestock, yet the mechanisms underlying this effect are unclear. Using a similar approach in young mice, these authors show that subtherapeutic doses of antibiotic increase the body's fat mass, cause changes in the composition of the intestinal microbial community and alter the activity of microbial metabolic pathways that lead to short-chain fatty-acid production. These findings highlight the importance of certain microbes in maintaining normal metabolic activity.
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