Early Antibiotic Use Could Increase Obesity Risk

A new study finds that exposure to antibiotics early in life could alter microbes in a way that could increase one’s risk for obesity in the future.

A team led by researchers from New York University Langone Medical Center compared outcomes in mice that were given low-dose penicillin to a group of mice that were not, with infancy identified as a key window of host-microbe metabolic interaction, according to the authors, who suggest that antibiotic use early in life could lead to lifelong metabolic changes. The investigators also addressed whether synergies exist between antibiotic exposure and dietary effects, as well as whether microbiota alterations are adequate to affect metabolic phenotypes.
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In the female mice, the authors found that all 3 low-dose penicillin groups developed elevated total, lean, and fat mass compared to controls, regardless of low-dose penicillin duration. Following a switch to a high-fat diet, the female low-dose penicillin group had significantly higher caloric intake and faster total and fat mass accumulation rates from 6 weeks to 20 weeks of age, compared to the control groups.

Male mice on low-dose penicillin showed early increases in total, lean, and fat mass, bit did not exhibit an increased food intake or feed efficiency from 6 weeks to 8 weeks of age. In addition, early-life changes in body composition were lost with age.

“We are beginning to learn that it could be possible to have later metabolic side effects from early-life antibiotic treatment,” says Laura Cox, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the New York University Department of Medicine, and a co-author of the study.

“While more work needs to be done to assess the risk in the human population, especially in regards to timing, dose, and class of antibiotic, physicians may want to take the potential risk into consideration in clinical treatment,” says Cox.

While stressing that she is not a clinician, Cox notes that she “believe[s] that the consulting physician should ultimately make the call for antibiotic treatment.”

There are many cases where antibiotics can be useful, and extremely beneficial for the patient, even life-saving, she says.

“However, if the physician does not feel that antibiotic treatment is justified, perhaps we could avoid the early-life exposures that are unnecessary. When considering long-term effects, the first year of life is a critical period when environmental factors, including antibiotics, can effect total growth and development and development of the immune-system. Cautious use of antibiotics could help avoid disruptions to the infant microbiota when both the child and the microbes are undergoing maturation.”

—Mark McGraw 

Reference

Cox L, Yamanishi S, et al. Altering the Intestinal Microbiota during a Critical Developmental Window Has Lasting Metabolic Consequences. Cell. 2014.