Intestinal microbiota of patients with bacterial infection of the respiratory tract treated with amoxicillin

Abstract

The intestinal tract harbors a huge diversity of metabolically-active aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that interact, forming a complex ecosystem. This microbiota has an important role in human metabolism, nutrition, immunity, and protection against colonization by pathogenic microorganisms. Several factors can influence the intestinal microbiota; these include age, diet, inflammatory and infectious processes, and the use of antimicrobials. We investigated the influence of bacterial infection of the respiratory tract and of amoxicillin therapy on the normal intestinal microbiota of patients. Bacterial infectious processes affecting the respiratory tract were found to influence the intestinal microbiota, significantly decreasing the number of colony-forming units (CFUs) of Bacteroides spp. and Lactobacillus spp. per gram of feces. The use of amoxicillin also influenced the intestinal microbiota, significantly decreasing the CFU of Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp./g of feces. Changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota need to be observed, since a decrease in the normal microorganisms can pose a number of hazards for hosts, including decreased resistance to colonization. With proper follow-up, health-care teams can minimize such hazards by implementing suitable therapy- and diet-related measures, thus reducing the occurrence of detrimental effects on the gastrointestinal ecosystem.

Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Comparisons of the Predominant Fecal Microbiota Compositions of a Group of Pediatric Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and Their Healthy Siblings

“…Several studies have shown that orally administered antibiotics can significantly decrease Bacteroides counts (2,3,46). In fact, a decline in intestinal Bacteroides numbers has been reported after treatment with amoxicillin, a beta-lactam antibiotic that was also administrated to many of the patients in the current study (41).…”

“…In contrast, a molecular study assessing the fecal microbial populations of Crohn's disease patients revealed a relatively stable Bifidobacterium community (54). Many studies have reported an antibiotic-induced decrease in Bifidobacterium counts (3,16,41,46). Several Bifidobacterium strains are used as probiotics in healthy and diseased populations (47,64), but until now, only very few studies have assessed the effects of probiotics in patients with CF (6,7,70).…”

“…The LRI is linked to the low-%GC region of the DGGE profiles, which mainly represents Gram-negative Bacteroidetes and Gram-positive Firmicutes, the two most abundant phyla in the human colon (14). In IBD patients (19,36), as well as in patients undergoing antibiotic treatment (2,3,41,46), an underrepresentation of fecal Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes has been reported. Except for the fecal fingerprints of the first patient-sibling pair, HRI values were lower for fecal and MCB fingerprints of both patients.…”

Microbiota intestinal de indivíduos que sofreram acidente ocupacional com materiais biológicos e que realizaram profilaxia anti-retroviral

“…O uso combinado de zidovudina (AZT) com lamivudina (3TC) é recomendado na maioria das situações com indicação de uso de quimioprofilaxia. O uso do indinavir ou nelfinavir deve ser reservado para acidentes graves e situações em que haja possibilidade de resistência viral do paciente-fonte 14 . Há necessidade de se conhecer melhor as possíveis interações dessas drogas na microbiota intestinal e assim contribuir para o melhor seguimento desses indivíduos.…”

“…O trato gastrointestinal possui enorme variedade de bactérias aeróbias e anaeróbias que interagem entre si em complexo ecosistema 14 . O cólon apresenta flora extremamente rica, com aproximadamente 400-500 espécies de microorganismos e de bactérias anaeróbias, destacando-se em ordem decrescente: bacteróides, bifidobactérias, lactobacillus entre outros 18 .…”