Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2025
Author Spotlight: Evaluating the Adjuvant Efficacy and Safety of Angong Niuhuang Pill in Viral Encephalitis Treatment
Published on: April 19, 2024
Antibiotic use and multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Ali Hosseinzadeh1, Sohrab Iranpour2, Hossein Ali Adineh3
1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
Background:
Epidemiological studies have shown conflicting results between antibiotic use and multiple sclerosis (MS) risks. The present systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the association between antibiotic use and the risk of MS.
Methods:
PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar as well as reference lists of retrieved studies were searched systematically to identify studies were assessed the relationship between antibiotic use and MS up to September 24, 2022. Random-effects model was used for the calculation of pooled Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
Results:
Five independent studies containing 47,491 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The overall results of included studies showed a non-significant positive association between antibiotic use (OR overall=1.01, 95%CI: 0.75-1.37) and a non-significant negative association between penicillin use (OR overall= 0.83; 95%CI: 0.62-1.13) and MS risk. Heterogeneity was (I2=90.1, P heterogeneity < 0.001) and (I2=90.7, P heterogeneity < 0.001) in antibiotics and penicillin use groups respectively.
Conclusion:
Our meta-analysis did not show a significant association between antibiotic or penicillin use with the risk of MS. However, due to the limitations of this study, further well-designed studies are required to confirm our findings.
Insights
This review found no significant link between antibiotic use and multiple sclerosis (MS) risk. Further research is needed to confirm these findings on antibiotic and penicillin use and MS.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Epidemiology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Conflicting epidemiological data exists regarding antibiotic use and multiple sclerosis (MS) risk.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to clarify the association between antibiotic exposure and MS.
- Understanding this relationship is crucial for public health and clinical practice.
Conclusions:
- This meta-analysis did not establish a significant association between antibiotic or penicillin use and the risk of multiple sclerosis.
- The study highlights significant heterogeneity among the included studies.
- Further high-quality, well-designed research is warranted to definitively ascertain the relationship between antibiotic exposure and MS risk.
