Use of antibiotics linked autoimmune diseases

Use of antibiotics very early in the life of children can increase the risk of developing autoimmune diseases in adulthood, scientists have warned.

According to research conducted by a team of scientists in Australia, giving antibiotics to children impedes the normal growth and development of “good” bacteria that inhabit the digestive tract (gut).

These healthy bacteria are critical for maintaining the health of the digestive system, brain and immune system in particular, as well as numerous other systems in the body.

The study published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology notes that a single course of antibiotics can indiscriminately kill off hundreds of important strains of healthy bacteria alongside the harmful  bacteria it targets, thereby affecting the function of the immune system, around 70 per cent of which is contained in the gut

Destruction of the healthy bacteria can lead to inflammatory diseases like multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma in adulthood. In many instances, the use of antibiotics is inevitable especially when a child is sick, but scientists say that these drugs are often prescribed unnecessarily.

IMPORTANT CLUE

The scientists used two groups of mice in the study. The first group included pregnant mice which were treated with broad spectrum antibiotics while their pups were given the same drugs for the first three weeks of life after birth. The second group of pregnant mice and their pups remained untreated.

The pups treated with antibiotics were found to have reduced levels of gut bacteria. When the pups were eight weeks old, the researchers examined a specific type of immune cell (known as CD4 T cells) from both the treated and untreated groups to observe their ability to induce inflammatory bowel disease in other mice and found that immune cells from the antibiotic-treated mice induced a significantly more severe and rapidly forming disease than those from the untreated mice.

“These studies provide an important clue to how early signals from our gut bacteria shape key immune cells and how neonatal events can shape disease potential later in life,” said John Wherry, deputy editor of the journal in which the study was published. CD4 T cells are a type of white blood cells that play a major role in protecting the body from infection.

These cells are crucial in achieving a regulated effective immune response to pathogens. Dysfunction in these cells is involved in the over-active immune response that eventually leads to the development of chronic inflammatory conditions like lupus, multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.

Certain lifestyle changes like adopting a gut-healthy diet, managing stress levels and exercising regularly can make a real difference for the gut, hence giving one better health.

“We know that gut microbiota are altered by stress, antibiotics, a high-fat diet, and an ‘overly clean environment,’” Dr Yuying Liu, who has conducted research on gut bacteria and autoimmunity said.