Antibiotics and Probiotics: What Is the Effect on the Gut?

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 1488

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil
Interests: animal health; veterinary microbiology; bacterial genetics; genomics; bioinformatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Veterinary School, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil
Interests: bioinformatics; reverse vaccinology; probiotic; immunoinformatics; next generation sequencing data analysis; pan genomics; metagenomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antibiotics are medicines that destroy or slow down the growth of bacteria. Antibiotic use can have several negative effects on gut microbiota, including reduced species diversity and the loss of key functional taxa, resulting in shifts in metabolism and increasing the susceptibility of the gut to colonization and the stimulation of bacterial antibiotic resistance.

Growing evidence indicates that probiotics may restore the composition of the gut microbiome and introduce beneficial functions to gut microbial communities, resulting in the amelioration or prevention of gut inflammation and other intestinal or systemic disease phenotypes.

The Special Issue of Antibiotics aims to collect manuscript submissions that further our understanding of the effects of antibiotics and probiotics on the gut of men and domestic animals.

Prof. Dr. Vasco Azevedo
Dr. Flávia Figueira Aburjaile
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • antibiotics
  • probiotics
  • gut health
  • gut microbiota
  • dysbiosis

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 4087 KiB  
Article
Unraveling the Microbial Symphony: Impact of Antibiotics and Probiotics on Infant Gut Ecology and Antibiotic Resistance in the First Six Months of Life
by Qi Qi, Liang Wang, Yingze Zhu, Shaoru Li, Mitslal Abrha Gebremedhin, Baozhu Wang, Zhonghai Zhu and Lingxia Zeng
Antibiotics 2024, 13(7), 602; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics13070602 - 27 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1034
Abstract
We aimed to examine the effects of antibiotic and probiotic usage on the gut microbiota structure and the presence of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in infants during the first six months of life. Questionnaires and fecal samples were collected within three days of birth, [...] Read more.
We aimed to examine the effects of antibiotic and probiotic usage on the gut microbiota structure and the presence of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in infants during the first six months of life. Questionnaires and fecal samples were collected within three days of birth, two months, and six months to assess antibiotic and probiotic exposure. Gut microbiotas were sequenced via 16S rRNA, and ARGs were conducted by qPCR, including beta-lactam (mecA, blaTEM), tetracycline (tetM), fluoroquinolone (qnrS), aminoglycoside (aac(6′)-Ib), and macrolide (ermB). Infants were categorized by antibiotic and probiotic usage and stratified by delivery mode, microbial composition, and ARG abundances were compared, and potential correlations were explored. A total of 189 fecal samples were analyzed in this study. The gut microbiota diversity (Chao1 index) was significantly lower in the “only probiotics” (PRO) group compared to the “neither antibiotics nor probiotics” (CON) group at six months for the CS stratification (p = 0.029). Compositionally, the abundance of core genus Bifidobacterium_pseudocatenulatum was less abundant for the antibiotic during delivery (IAP) group than that in the CON group within the first three days (p = 0.009), while core genus Enterococcus_faecium was more abundant in the PRO than that in the CON group (p = 0.021) at two months. ARGs were highly detected, with Enterococcus hosting tetM and Escherichia associated with blaTEM within three days of birth, though no correlation was found between Bifidobacterium and ARGs. These findings emphasized the critical importance of carefully managing antibiotic and probiotic exposures in early life, with implications for promoting lifelong health through preserving a healthy infant gut ecosystem. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotics and Probiotics: What Is the Effect on the Gut?)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop