Abstract

Levofloxacin hydrochloride (LH) is recommended for use in the treatment of infectious diseases, but its side effect has not been thoroughly investigated, especially on the intestinal tract. LH was tested of its side effects on effect to intestinal microbiota of BALB/c mice in this study. The similarity, diversity, and sequence analysis of the dominant bands for different drug administration periods were carried out by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles. The total amount of 16S rRNA gene was increased after drug administration, the bacterial composition and structure could be divided into different clusters for different drug administration periods distinctly. Prevotella amni,Porphyromonas uenonis, Bacteroides coprophilus, Streptococus sanguinis, Bacteroidessp., Clostridium butyricum str. and Leptotrichia hofstadii were dominant organisms. This study revealed a significant change of bacterial composition of microflora on the tested mice for LH.

Key words: Levofloxacin hydrochloride, side effects, intestinal microflora, polymerase chain reaction- denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE).