United States: A new study reveals that early exposure to antibiotics might increase a child’s threat of developing asthma by dismembering their gut bacteria.
Experimenters and health experts in collaboration set up that antibiotics can specifically reduce the product of indole propionic acid (IPA) in the gut — a crucial biochemical necessary for long- term protection against asthma.
This research suggests that altering gut bacteria through early antibiotic use could have lasting effects on respiratory health.
Impact on Allergic Reactions and Long-Term Vulnerability
“We have discovered that a consequence of antibiotic treatment is the depletion of bacteria that produce IPA, thus reducing a key molecule that has the potential to prevent asthma,” said lead researcher Ben Marsland, a professor of immunology at Monash University in Australia.
As reported by HealthDay, Researchers found out that when these antibiotics given in early life, the lab mice became more susceptible to the allergic reactions to dust mites, and they also find out that that Human asthma is commonly triggered by the exposure to the dust mites.
As reported in U.S News, this susceptibility to the dust mite allergens that continued in the mice long term even after their gut microbiome and the IPA levels returned to the normal said the researchers.
Lead Researcher’s Insights
The use of antibiotics in the first year of life can have the unintentional effect of reducing bacteria which promote health,” Marsland said in a university news release. “We now know from this research that antibiotics lead to reduced IPA, which we have found is critical early in life as our lung cells mature, making it a candidate for early life prevention of allergic airway inflammation. “
The motive of doing all this is to develop a stable gut Microbiome in the children Marsland said.
Focus on Gut Microbiome Development
Also, in addition that these dietary supplements rich in IPA might help the kids to avoid asthma and however this needs to be tested in the humans’ researchers said, since the animal research doesn’t always pan out in people.
“It is shaped first by food intake — both milk and solid foods — as well as genetics and environmental exposures,” Marsland said. “Infants at high risk of allergies and asthma have been shown to have a disrupted and delayed maturation of the gut microbiome.”