Alternative antibiotic regimens improve palatability and welfare in mice for gut bacterial depletion

Here we evaluated vancomycin-neomycin or enrofloxacin-ampicillin treatments as alternatives to the poorly tolerated ampicillin-metronidazole-vancomycin-neomycin cocktail for gut bacterial depletion in mice. Both regimens were well tolerated in drinking water and did not reduce food intake or body weight. Metabolic profiling showed reduced bacterial metabolic activity in both groups, but a marked reduction in total bacterial abundance only in the enrofloxacin-ampicillin group. These findings support enrofloxacin-ampicillin as a refined antibiotic strategy for gut bacterial depletion, improving palatability and welfare.