TY - JOUR
T1 - The Role of Antibiotics in Gut Microbiota Modulation: The Eubiotic Effects of Rifaximin
AU - Ponziani, Francesca Romana
AU - Scaldaferri, Franco
AU - Petito, Valentina
AU - Paroni Sterbini, Francesco
AU - Pecere, Silvia
AU - Lopetuso, Loris Riccardo
AU - Palladini, Alessandra
AU - Gerardi, Viviana
AU - Masucci, Luca
AU - Pompili, Maurizio
AU - Cammarota, Giovanni
AU - Sanguinetti, Maurizio
AU - Gasbarrini, Antonio
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Antibiotics are mainly used in clinical practice for their activity against pathogens, but they also alter the composition of commensal gut microbial community. Rifaximin is a non-absorbable antibiotic with additional effects on the gut microbiota about which very little is known. It is still not clear to what extent rifaximin can be able to modulate gut microbiota composition and diversity in different clinical settings. Studies based on culture-dependent techniques revealed that rifaximin treatment promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria, such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. Accordingly, our metagenomic analysis carried out on patients with different gastrointestinal and liver diseases highlighted a significant increase in Lactobacilli after rifaximin treatment, persisting in the short time period. This result was independent of the disease background and was not accompanied by a significant alteration of the overall gut microbial ecology. This suggests that rifaximin can exert important eubiotic effects independently of the original disease, producing a favorable gut microbiota perturbation without changing its overall composition and diversity.
AB - Antibiotics are mainly used in clinical practice for their activity against pathogens, but they also alter the composition of commensal gut microbial community. Rifaximin is a non-absorbable antibiotic with additional effects on the gut microbiota about which very little is known. It is still not clear to what extent rifaximin can be able to modulate gut microbiota composition and diversity in different clinical settings. Studies based on culture-dependent techniques revealed that rifaximin treatment promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria, such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. Accordingly, our metagenomic analysis carried out on patients with different gastrointestinal and liver diseases highlighted a significant increase in Lactobacilli after rifaximin treatment, persisting in the short time period. This result was independent of the disease background and was not accompanied by a significant alteration of the overall gut microbial ecology. This suggests that rifaximin can exert important eubiotic effects independently of the original disease, producing a favorable gut microbiota perturbation without changing its overall composition and diversity.
KW - Microbiota
KW - Microbiota
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/73658
U2 - 10.1159/000443361
DO - 10.1159/000443361
M3 - Article
SN - 0257-2753
VL - 34
SP - 269-78-278
JO - Digestive Diseases
JF - Digestive Diseases
ER -