Antibiotics save countless lives each year from harmful bacterial infections — but the community of beneficial bacteria that live in human intestines, known as the microbiome, frequently suffers collateral damage.
Antibiotics save countless lives each year from harmful bacterial infections — but the community of beneficial bacteria that live in human intestines, known as the microbiome, frequently suffers collateral damage.
Peter Belenky, an assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Brown University, studies ways to minimize this side effect, which can lead to C. diff infections and other life-threatening imbalances in the microbiome. In a new study published on Thursday, Sept. 12, in Cell Metabolism, Belenky and his colleagues found that antibiotics change the composition and metabolism of the gut microbiome in mice, and that a mouse’s diet can mitigate or exacerbate these changes.
The findings are a step, Belenky said, toward helping humans to better tolerate antibiotic treatment.
“Doctors now know that each antibiotic prescription has the potential to lead to some very harmful microbiome-related health outcomes, but they do not have reliable tools to protect this critical community while also treating deadly infections,” Belenky said. “The goal of my lab is to identify new ways to protect the microbiome, which may alleviate some of the worst antibiotic side effects.”
Read more at Brown University
Image Credit: Brown University
