Impact of Antibiotic Duration on Gut Microbiome Composition and Antimicrobial Resistance: A Substudy of the BALANCE Randomized Controlled Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Maintaining a diverse gut microbiome and minimizing antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) carriage through reduced antibiotic utilization may decrease antimicrobial resistance. We compared gut microbiome disruption and ARG carriage following 7 or 14 days of antibiotics for treatment of bacteremia in a substudy of the BALANCE randomized controlled trial.

Methods

The BALANCE randomized controlled trial enrolled 3631 participants with bacteremia, who were randomized 1:1 to receive 7 or 14 days of antibiotics. Rectal swabs were collected from 131 participants and analyzed with metagenomic sequencing to characterize the gut microbiome and ARGs. The primary outcome was change in gut microbiome diversity at day 7 vs 14.

Results

Forty-one participants (n = 28 in the

SUBMITTER: Armstrong E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11935739 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature