Antibiotics disrupt gut bacteria, impact bone health
28 January, 2019
A new study about the side effects of antibiotic treatment reveals that it may dysregulate postpubertal skeletal development by interfering with gut bacteria.
The trillions of bacteria living in our bodies are crucial for our health.
They support the gastrointestinal and immune systems.
They also help the body absorb nutrients from foods and supplements.
People often call the "good" bacteria within us "commensal," because they live together in harmony without causing any harm.
However, we often treat the "bad" microbes that cause disease using antibiotics.
Linking gut microbes and skeletal health
Some researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston specialize in osteoimmunology, the "interface of the skeletal and immune systems." The scientists analyzed the impact of antibiotics on postpubertal skeletal development and published their results in The American Journal of Pathology.
The study demonstrated that antibiotic disruption of the gut microbiota causes a pro-inflammatory response that may lead to less bone resorption, a process by which osteoclasts, or large bone cells, release the minerals and transfer them to the blood.
According to Chad M. Novince, Ph.D. — who studies the link between microbiome and skeletal health — the study "introduces antibiotics as a critical exogenous modulator of gut microbiota osteoimmune response during postpubertal skeletal development."
The postpubertal phase of development supports the accumulation of about 40 percent of peak bone mass. Previous research by Novince and team had already shown that the gut microbiota contributes to skeletal health.
To determine the impact of antibiotics on the gut microbiota in postpubertal skeletal development, Novince conducted a new study. He did so in collaboration with microbiome scientist Alexander V. Alekseyenko, Ph.D., founding director of the MUSC Program for Human Microbiome Research.
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