Taking a single course of antibiotics for less than two weeks can reduce the diversity of your gut microbiome for years. When the balance of microorganisms in the gut is disrupted, certain bacteria can dominate, leading to diarrhoea.
Researchers already knew that antibiotics can , but the longer-term consequences were less clear.
To fill this gap,聽 at Uppsala University in Sweden and his colleagues analysed data from three studies in which they collected stool samples from more than 5700 adults, aged in their 20s to their 70s.
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Based on their medical records, more than 1400 of the participants had taken a course of antibiotics, lasting less than two weeks, between four and eight years before they provided a stool sample. The remaining participants had taken no antibiotics in the eight years before providing a sample.
The researchers found that the participants who had taken antibiotics called macrolides, which are commonly used to treat skin and lung infections, had 56 fewer species in their gut, on average, four to eight years later, compared with those who took no antibiotics.
Those who took antibiotics called cephalosporins 鈥� which are used against urinary tract infections, pneumonia and meningitis 鈥� had 43 fewer bacterial species in their guts, on average, up to eight years later. The same was true for those who took a course of the antibiotic clindamycin, which treats certain bone, joint and skin infections.
The team accounted for differences between the two groups that could affect the results, such as age, sex and any other health conditions, such as diabetes.
Most people have . Losing around 50 species could make them more vulnerable to diarrhoeal infections, such as聽Clostridium difficile, says聽 at the University of Leeds in the UK. This bacterium usually lives harmlessly in the bowel, but can dominate after someone takes antibiotics.
medRxiv
