title: Shifting the balance: antibiotic effects on host-microbiota mutualism.
abstract: Antibiotics have been used effectively as a means to treat bacterial infections in humans and animals for over half a century. However, through their use, lasting alterations are being made to a mutualistic relationship that has taken millennia to evolve: the relationship between the host and its microbiota. Host-microbiota interactions are dynamic; therefore, changes in the microbiota as a consequence of antibiotic treatment can result in the dysregulation of host immune homeostasis and an increased susceptibility to disease. A better understanding of both the changes in the microbiota as a result of antibiotic treatment and the consequential changes in host immune homeostasis is imperative, so that these effects can be mitigated.
authors.affiliation: Michael Smith Laboratories, The University of British Columbia.
authors.forename: Benjamin P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Willing
authors.forename: Shannon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: B Brett
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Finlay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D018533:Biomass; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000209:etiology; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000378:metabolism; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000187:drug effects; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D054892:Metagenome / Q000187:drug effects*; D056265:Microbial Interactions / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile