MONDAY, Nov. 17, 2008 (Health.com) — Most of the bacteria that live in a healthy person’s intestines will bounce right back after they’re killed during an antibiotic attack, according to a new study.
But several types are wiped out by a course of Cipro, or they survive only in much smaller numbers, reports Stanford University’s Les Dethlefsen, PhD, and his colleagues in this month’s issue of the journal PLoS Biology.
Overall, about 30% of the bacterial types found in the intestine showed dramatic population changes after a course of ciprofloxacin. The majority of bacteria rebounded four weeks later.
“We have no idea what the consequences of that are,” Dethlefsen says. None of the three healthy volunteers participating in the study got sick, but the alteration of their bacterial ecosystem could have longer-term, subtler effects, he adds.
The bugs in human guts are a hot topic these days. Probiotics can be used to colonize the intestines with “good guy” microbes. While the jury’s out on whether these supplements have any effect on the gut’s bacterial environment, it is clear that not having a thriving microbial community in one’s intestines can be dangerous, with consequences ranging from a day or two of diarrhea to life-threatening infection with a nasty bug called Clostridium difficile, which can gain a foothold in patients treated with antibiotics.
“We have a very complex, diverse microbial community that lives in our guts and does all kinds of amazing things for us,” Dethlefsen says. Not only do bacteria help to digest food and extract nutrients from food, but they also protect from infection, help regulate the immune system, and may even have a say in the timing of birth.
Next: Volunteers had up to 5,700 types of bacteria in their gut
Comments (2)
This study is most welcome, and long overdue. Some people with an interest in health issues feel that the microflora of the gut could be a major factor, albiet indirectly, in many conditions – from IBS to chronic pain and even some mental health issues [especially certain addictions]. It has been proposed that some food additives actually do cause a kind of addiction, and the gut bacteria would almost certainly play a role in that.
The research is a huge task though. Finding which bacteria are responsible for what effects, good or bad, presents a lot of work. The new techniques give us the opportunity to do this work now, and I sure hope it gets some big funding in order to get it done!!
I was on cipro for 4 wks straight, due to a bladder problem, which I still have, on and off. When I was on cipro I ended up with a vaginal infection after the 4 th wk. I still a have problem.The last 5 yrs. I have been having really bad GI problems intolerences to wheat and gluten and many other foods. I did not know about probiotics until the last 4yrs. Doctors did not know what was wrong with me , but could see something, that I have this inflamation, do not know why. Since I have been taking probiotics with zantac I seem to be getting better. I felt like the walking dead, Thank God I do not feel like that anymore. I have also changed my diet as well, about the last 3 yrs.now.