Maier is an alumna of the Typas lab and one of the two lead authors of the study. This broad activity spectrum is useful when treating infections, but it increases the risk that the microbes in our gut are targeted as well,” explained Lisa Maier, DFG Emmy Noether group leader at the University of Tübingen. “Many antibiotics inhibit the growth of various pathogenic bacteria. However, when we treat a bacterial infection with antibiotics, there’s a risk of damaging the gut microbiome. Together, they enable us to use nutrients more efficiently and hinder pathogenic bacteria from settling in our gut. The human gut harbours an intricate community of different microbial species as well as many viruses, collectively referred to as the gut microbiome. It also suggests a new approach to mitigating the adverse effects of antibiotics therapy on the gut microbiome. The study published in the journal Nature substantially improves our understanding of antibiotics’ effects on gut microbes. Researchers from the Typas group at EMBL Heidelberg, the Maier lab at the Cluster of Excellence ‘Controlling Microbes to Fight Infections’ at the University of Tübingen, and collaborators have analysed the effects of 144 antibiotics on our most common gut microbes. They also include long-term health problems, such as the development of allergic, metabolic, immunological or inflammatory diseases. Common side effects of this collateral damage of antibiotics are gastrointestinal problems and recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections. But they can also harm the helpful microbes residing in our gut, weakening one of our body’s first lines of defence against pathogens and compromising the multiple beneficial effects our microbiota has for our health. Credit: Isabel Romero Calvo/EMBLĪntibiotics help us to treat bacterial infections and save millions of lives each year. It also suggests a new approach to mitigating the adverse effects of antibiotics therapy on the gut microbiome through the combination of antibiotics with a second drug. Their study substantially improves our understanding of antibiotics’ effects. Tackling the collateral damage from antibioticsĮMBL scientists pave the way for reducing the harmful side effects antibiotics have on gut bacteriaĮMBL researchers and colleagues have analysed the effects of 144 antibiotics on our most common gut microbes.