Influence of Oral Doxycycline Therapy on the Diversity and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Human Intestinal Bifidobacterial Population

Aim: To evaluate the influence of doxycycline therapy on the composition and antibiotic susceptibility of intestinal bifidobacteria.

Methods And Results: Faecal samples were collected from nine subjects receiving doxycycline therapy and ten control subjects, and analysed for bifidobacteria by culturing and PCR-DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). A marked decrease in the diversity (average number of amplicons detected by PCR-DGGE 0.8 in the antibiotic vs 4.3 in the control group) of Bifidobacterium populations was observed during doxycycline therapy. The proportion of a tetracycline-resistant bifidobacterial population was higher in the antibiotic group than in the control group (83%vs 26%). Based on the tet gene PCR, resistance could be associated with the presence of tet(W). In two subjects, strains representing highly similar genetic fingerprints but different tetracycline susceptibilities were detected. A mutation causing lack of functionality in the tet(W) was observed in one of the susceptible strains.

Conclusions: Doxycycline therapy had a drastic effect on the diversity and tetracycline susceptibility of intestinal Bifidobacterium populations.

Significance And Impact Of The Study: The use of broad-spectrum antibiotics increased the pool of tetracycline-resistant commensal bacteria in the intestine. The detection of resistance genes alone is not sufficient for the evaluation of bacterial antibiotic resistance.