Extensive Impact of Non-antibiotic Drugs on Human Gut Bacteria

Overview

Journal Nature

Specialty Science

Date 2018 Mar 21

PMID 29555994

Citations 774

Authors

Lisa Maier

Mihaela Pruteanu

Michael Kuhn

Georg Zeller

Anja Telzerow

Exene Erin Anderson

Ana Rita Brochado

Keith Conrad Fernandez

Hitomi Dose

Hirotada Mori

Kiran Raosaheb Patil

Peer Bork

Athanasios Typas

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

A few commonly used non-antibiotic drugs have recently been associated with changes in gut microbiome composition, but the extent of this phenomenon is unknown. Here, we screened more than 1,000 marketed drugs against 40 representative gut bacterial strains, and found that 24% of the drugs with human targets, including members of all therapeutic classes, inhibited the growth of at least one strain in vitro. Particular classes, such as the chemically diverse antipsychotics, were overrepresented in this group. The effects of human-targeted drugs on gut bacteria are reflected on their antibiotic-like side effects in humans and are concordant with existing human cohort studies. Susceptibility to antibiotics and human-targeted drugs correlates across bacterial species, suggesting common resistance mechanisms, which we verified for some drugs. The potential risk of non-antibiotics promoting antibiotic resistance warrants further exploration. Our results provide a resource for future research on drug-microbiome interactions, opening new paths for side effect control and drug repurposing, and broadening our view of antibiotic resistance.

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