title: Treatment of inflammatory bowel disease with antibiotics.
abstract: Although antibiotics are clearly recognized as having a role in treating the infectious complications of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), their impact in the primary treatment of IBD has long been an area of speculation. Over the past decade there is increasing evidence that luminal gut bacteria play a role in the pathogenesis of IBD, particularly Crohn's disease. Compelling evidence that normal commensal bacteria induce chronic intestinal inflammation in susceptible rodents provides an excellent rationale for treatment of human IBD with antibiotics. This article summarizes published studies of antibiotics in IBD patients and reviews available data for the use of antibiotic therapy in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-7080, USA. klisaacs@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Kim L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Isaacs
authors.forename: R Balfour
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Sartor
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005402:Fistula / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents