Research presented today (6 September, 2016) at this
year's European Respiratory Society (ERS)
International Congress in London, UK shows that
exposure to antibiotics early in life is related to
increased risk of developing allergies later in
life. The research is by Dr Fariba Ahmadizar,
Utrecht University, Netherlands and colleagues.
Some previous research has suggested that early life
exposure to antibiotics is associated with an
increased risk of developing allergies later in
life, but results are inconsistent.
In this new research, PubMed and Web of Science
databases were searched for observational studies
published from January 1966 through November 11,
2015. Studies were included that assessed the
association between antibiotic consumption during
the first 2 years of life and the risk of eczema or
hay fever later in life.
A total of 22 studies (including 394,517 patients)
were selected to study the risk of eczema and 22
studies (including 256,609 patients) to study the
risk of hay fever, with some of these being the same
(12 studies including 64,638 patients) studies for
both conditions.
The increased risk of eczema due to early life use
of antibiotics varied from 15% to 41% depending on
the type of study analysed.
Use of antibiotics in early life also increased the
risk of hay fever in later life by 14% to 56% again
dependent on the type of study analysed.
Furthermore, the association was stronger if
patients had been treated with 2 courses compared
with one course of antibiotics both for eczema and
for hay fever.
The authors suggest the mechanism behind this effect
is the immunomodulatory effect of antibiotics, and
the disruption of the microorganisms (microbiome) in
the gut caused by antibiotics which can lead to
reduce immune responses.
Dr Ahmadizar concludes: "Early life exposure to
antibiotics is related to an increased risk of both
eczema and hay fever later in life."
For more information
ERS International Congress - London 2016
Link...
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