Question

After contracting a particularly nasty bacterial infection, your doctor puts you on broad-spectrum antibiotics for two weeks. What effect/s will this medication have on your microbiome? Explain fully.

Answer 1

The gut is the largest reservoir of microbiota with approximately 100 trillion microbes and participates in host homeostasis.

These microbiota plays very important role in physiological functions including synthesis of vitamins and essential amino acids, food digestion, development of immune system, protection against external pathogens and maintenance of gut mucosal barrier.

Long term use of antibiotics as in the above case might eliminate upto 90 percent of the gut microbiota and may involve negative effects on both neonates and adults. It can lead to microbial dysbiosis, thereby negatively affecting the above functions contributed by the gut microbiota.

Moreover, it can lead to diseases such as inflammatory bowel's disease, autism, obesity, depression and asthma among a few.