Short-term antibiotic treatment has differing long-term impacts on the human throat and gut microbiome.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotic administration is the standard treatment for the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the main causative agent of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. However, the long-term consequences of this treatment on the human indigenous microbiota are relatively unexplored. Here we studied short- and long-term effects of clarithromycin and metronidazole treatment, a commonly used therapy regimen against H. pylori, on the indigenous microbiota in the throat and in the lower intestine. The bacterial compositions in samples collected over a four-year period were monitored by analyzing the 16S rRNA gene using 454-based pyrosequencing and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). While the microbial communities of untreated control subjects were relatively stable over time, d

SUBMITTER: Jakobsson HE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2844414 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature