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Updated: Jul 23, 2025
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Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction-based Analyses of Murine Intestinal Microbiota After Oral Antibiotic Treatment
Published on: November 17, 2018
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Microbiotoxicity: antibiotic usage and its unintended harm to the microbiome
Anastasia A Theodosiou1, Christine E Jones1, Robert C Read1
1Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton.
Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases
|July 19, 2023
Summary
Antibiotic use can harm the gut microbiome, leading to adverse health effects. This review introduces "microbiotoxicity" to help clinicians balance antibiotic risks and benefits.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Pharmacology
- Clinical Medicine
Background:
- Antibiotic use is linked to antimicrobial resistance and microbiome dysregulation.
- Microbiome alterations are associated with adverse health outcomes.
- This review examines recent evidence on antibiotic impacts on the microbiome.
Approach:
- Analysis of recent interventional studies.
- Inclusion of germ-free mouse models and human volunteer studies.
- Consideration of a phase III microbiome-based medicine trial.
Key Points:
- Growing evidence links antibiotics to microbiome perturbation.
- Further causal evidence is needed to fully understand these effects.
- The term 'microbiotoxicity' is proposed to describe antibiotic-induced microbiome harm.
Conclusions:
- Clinicians must weigh the risks of microbiotoxicity against antibiotic benefits.
- A framework is suggested for prescribers to evaluate these risks.
- Understanding antibiotic-mediated microbiome effects is crucial for patient care.
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