Scientists at the New York University School of Medicine (USA) have discovered thatexposure to antibiotics during childhood alters the composition and function of bacteria in the digestive tract, mainly from the stomach, with an impact on the metabolism that canpredispose to obesity. Their conclusions are published in the magazineNature.
Since 1950, small doses of antibiotics (STAT therapy) have been widely used not to fight disease or infection, but to increase the size of cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, and turkeys, among other livestock. farm, notes the published study. In their experiments, the researchers administered STAT to normal mice, and they observed that the mice that received antibiotics developed an increase in the percentage of body fat. After six weeks,the medicated mice had gained approximately 10 to 15 percent more fat massthan mice that did not receive antibiotics. The researchers also observed thatbone density increased significantly in mice that received STATduring early development, and that hormones related to metabolism were also affected.
“Using antibiotics you canmanipulate the population of bacteria and alter the way they metabolize certain nutrients“says Cho, professor of Medicine and co-author of the work. The researcher adds that, now, the scientific community is beginning to understand how complex the microbiome is, and how it affects health and disease. According to the researchers, this new finding it has the potential to affect a wide range of conditions, ranging from childhood obesity to metabolic syndrome in adults.
There is now growing concern that exposure to antibiotics may have long-term consequences, so recent research has focused on the effects of antibiotics on development. “The rise in obesity around the world coincides with the widespread use of antibiotics, and our studies provide an experimental link,” says lead researcher Martin J. Blaser. However, the scientists note that more research is needed to confirm this theory.
