Taking antibiotics damages the intestinal mucosa, increasing the risk of inflammatory bowel disease.

[메디컬투데이=조민규 기자] Research has shown that antibiotics can damage the intestinal mucosa, increasing the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

A study published in ‘ScienceAdvances’ found that antibiotics damaged the intestinal mucosa in a mouse model, which may increase the risk of IBD.

As of 2019, approximately 4.9 million people worldwide are known to suffer from IBD. The two main types of IBD are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, but the cause and treatment of IBD are still unknown.

Antibiotics are drugs that inhibit the growth or survival of bacteria, and are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs, with the rate of antibiotic prescriptions in Korea reaching 15% by 2022. experts claim that there are beneficial bacteria as well as harmful bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract, and that antibiotics can cause an imbalance in the intestinal microbial community, which can cause several gastrointestinal diseases.

The researchers used analytical technologies such as RNA sequencing, machine learning, and measurements of mucus secretion to determine the effects of antibiotic use in a mouse model of IBD.

As a result of the study, the researchers found that antibiotics such as ampicillin, metronidazole, neomycin, and vancomycin damage the mucosal protection layer of the digestive tract, increasing the risk of bacterial invasion and intestinal inflammation.

It is generally believed that antibiotics do not work specifically on bacteria and do not harm people, but this study shows that antibiotics have a direct effect on our intestinal cells, the researchers explained.

They also said that the negative effect of antibiotics on the intestinal mucosa was not due to changes in the intestinal microbial community, but to a direct effect on the cells responsible for mucus production.

The researchers concluded that antibiotics may increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease by damaging the intestinal mucosa more directly.

Medical Today Reporter Cho Min-gyu ([email protected])

[저작권자ⓒ 메디컬투데이. 무단전재-재배포 금지]