Repeated use of certain antibiotics could increase the risk of a person of type 2 diabetes, suggests a recent study.
The researchers analyzed data from one million people in the United Kingdom, and found that those who had prescribed at least two regimes of four types of antibiotics (penicillins, cephalosporins, quinolones and macrolides) were more prone to contract diabetes.
The risk of diabetes increased along with the amount of prescription antibiotics, showed the findings.From two to five penicillin regimes increased the risk of diabetes by 8 percent, while more than five regimes increased the risk by 23 percent.
From two to five quinolonas regimes increased the risk of diabetes by 15 percent, and more than five regimes increased the risk by 37 percent.
The highest diabetes risk associated with antibiotics was determined after taking into account other risk factors of diabetes, such as obesity, smoking, heart disease and infections, the authors said.
The study appears in the March 25 edition of the European Journal of Endocrinology magazine.
"Although our study shows no causality, we believe that changing levels and diversity of intestinal bacteria could explain the link between antibiotics and the risk of diabetes," the main author of the study said in a press release of the magazine,Dr. Yu-Xiao Yang, from the University of Pennsylvania.
According to Dr. Ben Boursi, a leading author, "it has been suggested that intestinal bacteria influence the underlying mechanisms of obesity, insulin resistance [Precursor of Diabetes] and diabetes in both animal and human models. Previous studiesThey have shown that antibiotics can alter the digestive ecosystem. "
Two other experts agreed that the findings are interesting, and merit more study.
"It has been recognized that bacteria in one part of the body can contribute to inflammation in another," said Dr. Gerald Bernstein, director of the Diabetes Management Program at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, in the city in the cityNew York.
As an example, he pointed to the connection between gingivitis (a bacterial infection in the mouth) and heart disease.Then, the links between alterations in bacteria in intestines and diabetes are not unlikely, he said.
"This article strengthened a potential hypothesis and we must all wait to see what happens now," he said.
Dr. Spyros Mezitis is endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York City.He attended that "current research shows that changes in the composition of intestinal flora [microbes] is associated with chronic diseases that include type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases."
For its part, Boursi added that "excessive antibiotic recipes are already a problem worldwide, as bacteria become more resistant to their effects. Our findings are important, not only to understand how diabetesIt could develop, but also as a warning to reduce unnecessary treatments with antibiotics that could do more bad than good. "
Sources: Gerald Bernstein, M.D., Director, Diabetes Management Program at the Friedman Diabetes Institute, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, New York City;Spyros Mezitis, M.D., Endocrinologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City;European Journal of Endocrinology
