Even short pulses of widely used antibiotics can lead to long-term development changes in mouse pups, including increased body mass and bone growth and changes to the gut microbiota, according to a study published June 30 inย Nature Communications.
โWhile this is a correlative study, [the researchers] present a plausible case that antibiotics, by changing the gut microbiota, may affect host function,โ saidย Lee Kaplan, a gastroenterologist and molecular biologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston who was not involved in the work. โThis suggests there may be correlates between the microbiota and changes in the host that can be identified in future experiments and exploited for therapeutic benefit.โ
In prior studies, microbiologistย Martin Blaserย of the New York University Langone Medical Center and his colleagues showed that mice given low-doses of penicillin shortly after birthย became overweight in adulthoodย if fed a high-fat diet, and that this effect was due toย changes in the gut microbiotaย and metabolism. Seeing profound changes with even low-dose antibiotic exposureโsimilar to theย chronic antibiotic treatment of farm animalsย to promote growth โ Blaser wanted to understand the effects of therapeutic antibiotic doses in kids. โChildren donโt get low-dose antibiotics every day, they get pulses of high doses of antibiotics for short time periods to treat infections,โ he said.
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