Without spoiling the microflora

Scientists have figured out how to use antibiotics without harm to the intestines

Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+

An analysis of 144 of the most common antibacterial therapy drugs showed that for each of them you can find an "antidote" — a substance that protects beneficial intestinal bacteria from death. Experiments have shown that the effect of the antibiotic is completely preserved, but at the same time protection from toxic effects is provided.

Even a single course of antibacterial therapy harms the intestinal microbiota and leads to a long-term decrease in the biodiversity of beneficial bacteria. There are many studies confirming irreversible intestinal damage after antibiotics — some strains of bacteria do not recover. Given that the use of antibacterial drugs is growing all over the world, scientists decided to find a way to reduce the toxicity of drugs at the expense of existing and already approved substances for humans. The press release is published on the website of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

Article by Maier et al. Dissecting the collateral damage of antibiotics on gut microbes is published in the journal Nature – VM.

The team analyzed 144 of the most commonly prescribed drugs and their effect on 27 of the most common strains of bacteria inhabiting the intestine.

At first, scientists discovered that antibiotics from the tetracycline and macrolide families not only stopped the growth of beneficial bacteria (bacteriostatic effect), but also led to their death.

Approximately half of the bacterial strains died after exposure to tetracyclines and macrolides. Until now, it was believed that they have only a bacteriostatic effect.

The three most commonly used antibiotics — doxycycline, erythromycin and azithromycin — led to the death of several bacterial strains, and the growth of the rest was temporarily suppressed. This may explain serious disturbances in the composition of the microbiota of patients after taking these antibiotics, the authors said.

At the second stage of the experiments, they began to analyze the effect of 1,200 drugs already approved for humans in order to find an "antidote" to antibiotics in them.

Soon they actually found such antidotes that, when taken in combination, protected some bacterial strains from death, while at the same time not reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics against pathogenic bacteria.

Of course, no antidote can completely preserve the biodiversity of the microbiota after an antibiotic, but it can reduce the toxic effect. "The results open up new opportunities for the development of personalized strategies for antibacterial therapy," the authors commented.

Now scientists are conducting further experiments to accurately determine the combinations and dosage of drugs for optimal protection of the intestinal microbiota.

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