Antibiotics given in infancy may have adverse impact on adult guthealth ThePhySoc
Illustration of bacteria in the human gut. Credit: Darryl Leja, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
Preterm and low birth-weight babies are routinely given antibiotics to prevent—not just treat—infections, which they have a high risk of developing. A new study published inhas found that early life exposure to antibiotics in neonatal mice has long-lasting effects on their microbiota, enteric nervous system, and gut function. This could mean that babies given antibiotics may grow up to experience gastrointestinal issues.
This discovery by the research team from the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Melbourne is the first to show that antibiotics given to neonatal mice yields these long-lasting effects that result in disturbed gastrointestinal function, including the speed of motility through the gut and diarrhea-like symptoms in adulthood.every day for the first ten days of their lives.
Mice have many similarities to humans, but they are born with more immature guts than humans and have accelerated growth due to their shorter life spans. Their gut microbiota and nervous systems are less complex than those of humans, so the findings cannot yet be directly correlated to human children and infants.
Lead physiologist Dr. Jaime Foong said,"We are very excited about the findings of our study which show that