Anjelique Schulfer

Highlights • Low-dose antibiotic exposure perturbs the infant gut mouse microbiome to PND10 • Frontal cortex and amygdala gene expression were substantially affected • Multiple pathways underlying neurodevelopment were affected • Specific gut microbial populations were linked with expression of particular genes Summary We have established experimental systems to assess the effects of early-life exposures to antibiotics on the intestinal microbiota and gene expression in the brain.

Antibiotic exposure in children has been associated with the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Antibiotic use in children or in their pregnant mother can affect how the intestinal microbiome develops, so we asked whether the transfer of an antibiotic-perturbed microbiota from mothers to their children could affect their risk of developing IBD.

The paper in Nature Microbiology is here: http://go.nature.com/2n7RrrL Since the widespread incorporation of antibiotics into medical practice in the mid-twentieth century, these drugs have been seen as a modern miracle whose only downside is the development of antibiotic resistance (which, of course, is a major downside, but isn’t the focus of this post.) The consequences to patients have usually been considered minimal, and not worth worrying about.