Long-term impacts of antibiotic exposure on the human intestinal microbiota.
Although it is known that antibiotics have short-term impacts on the human microbiome, recent evidence demonstrates that the impacts of some antibiotics remain for extended periods of time. In addition, antibiotic-resistant strains can persist in the human host environment in the absence of selective pressure. Both molecular- and cultivation-based approaches have revealed ecological disturbances in the microbiota after antibiotic administration, in particular for specific members of the bacterial community that are susceptible or alternatively resistant to the antibiotic in question. A disturbing consequence of antibiotic treatment has been the long-term persistence of antibiotic resistance genes, for example in the human gut. These data warrant use of prudence in the administration of antibiotics that could aggravate the growing battle with emerging antibiotic-resistant pathogenic strains.
Jernberg
Cecilia
C
Department of Bacteriology, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, SE-171 82 Solna, Sweden.
Löfmark
Sonja
S
Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
Edlund
Charlotta
C
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden.|Medical Products Agency, SE-751 03 Uppsala, Sweden.
Jansson
Janet K
JK
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Division of Earth Sciences, 1 Cyclotron Rd, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.|Department of Microbiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D054892:Metagenome; D013997:Time Factors
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents