Antibiotics and Probiotics: What Is the Effect on the Gut?

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 1524

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil
Interests: animal health; veterinary microbiology; bacterial genetics; genomics; bioinformatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Veterinary School, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil
Interests: bioinformatics; reverse vaccinology; probiotic; immunoinformatics; next generation sequencing data analysis; pan genomics; metagenomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antibiotics are medicines that destroy or slow down the growth of bacteria. Antibiotic use can have several negative effects on gut microbiota, including reduced species diversity and the loss of key functional taxa, resulting in shifts in metabolism and increasing the susceptibility of the gut to colonization and the stimulation of bacterial antibiotic resistance.

Growing evidence indicates that probiotics may restore the composition of the gut microbiome and introduce beneficial functions to gut microbial communities, resulting in the amelioration or prevention of gut inflammation and other intestinal or systemic disease phenotypes.

The Special Issue of Antibiotics aims to collect manuscript submissions that further our understanding of the effects of antibiotics and probiotics on the gut of men and domestic animals.

Prof. Dr. Vasco Azevedo
Dr. Flávia Figueira Aburjaile
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • antibiotics
  • probiotics
  • gut health
  • gut microbiota
  • dysbiosis

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 4087 KiB  
Article
Unraveling the Microbial Symphony: Impact of Antibiotics and Probiotics on Infant Gut Ecology and Antibiotic Resistance in the First Six Months of Life
by Qi Qi, Liang Wang, Yingze Zhu, Shaoru Li, Mitslal Abrha Gebremedhin, Baozhu Wang, Zhonghai Zhu and Lingxia Zeng
Antibiotics 2024, 13(7), 602; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics13070602 - 27 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1061
Abstract
We aimed to examine the effects of antibiotic and probiotic usage on the gut microbiota structure and the presence of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in infants during the first six months of life. Questionnaires and fecal samples were collected within three days of birth, [...] Read more.
We aimed to examine the effects of antibiotic and probiotic usage on the gut microbiota structure and the presence of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in infants during the first six months of life. Questionnaires and fecal samples were collected within three days of birth, two months, and six months to assess antibiotic and probiotic exposure. Gut microbiotas were sequenced via 16S rRNA, and ARGs were conducted by qPCR, including beta-lactam (mecA, blaTEM), tetracycline (tetM), fluoroquinolone (qnrS), aminoglycoside (aac(6′)-Ib), and macrolide (ermB). Infants were categorized by antibiotic and probiotic usage and stratified by delivery mode, microbial composition, and ARG abundances were compared, and potential correlations were explored. A total of 189 fecal samples were analyzed in this study. The gut microbiota diversity (Chao1 index) was significantly lower in the “only probiotics” (PRO) group compared to the “neither antibiotics nor probiotics” (CON) group at six months for the CS stratification (p = 0.029). Compositionally, the abundance of core genus Bifidobacterium_pseudocatenulatum was less abundant for the antibiotic during delivery (IAP) group than that in the CON group within the first three days (p = 0.009), while core genus Enterococcus_faecium was more abundant in the PRO than that in the CON group (p = 0.021) at two months. ARGs were highly detected, with Enterococcus hosting tetM and Escherichia associated with blaTEM within three days of birth, though no correlation was found between Bifidobacterium and ARGs. These findings emphasized the critical importance of carefully managing antibiotic and probiotic exposures in early life, with implications for promoting lifelong health through preserving a healthy infant gut ecosystem. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotics and Probiotics: What Is the Effect on the Gut?)
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