Teenagers with pimples may have to think twice before starting a typical antibiotic treatment meant to resolve skin issues. A recent study has found that antibiotic treatment may alter the skeletal system with long-lasting effects.
The study, published within the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) Insight, showed that long-term topical use of a systemic antibiotic, minocycline, can have unintended effects during adolescent bone development.
Minocycline treatment can last for as much as two years. This antibiotic alters the gut microbiome—the population of microorganisms that live within the gut.
Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) found a robust correlation between the composition of the gut microbiome and healthy skeletal maturation.
For the study, the research team gave an appropriate dose of minocycline to mice throughout the pubertal/postpubertal growth stage, which is the equivalent age of adolescence in humans.
It was present in the study that though minocycline therapy didn’t cause any cytotoxic effects or induce a pro-inflammatory response, it did change the composition of the gut microbiome which led to decreased bone mass accrual and inefficient skeletal maturation.
“There are sustained changes to the gut microbiome following long-term systemic minocycline therapy that results in reduced bone maturation,” first writer, Matthew Carson, Novince lab, said, reported SciTechDaily.
“From a clinical perspective, not only is minocycline treatment causing changes to the maturing skeleton, the microbiome and the skeleton aren’t capable of recuperate fully after antibiotic therapy,” Chad Novince, principal investigator and associate professor within the Department of Oral Health Sciences within the College of Dental Medicine added.
Minocycline belongs to the tetracycline class of antibiotics. This group also includes antibiotics reminiscent of tetracycline, doxycycline, and sarecycline. These antibiotics work by obstructing the expansion and spread of bacteria. Within the case of pimples, they kill the bacteria that infect pores and reduce certain acne-causing natural oily substances.
“What’s really interesting is when you cause changes to the microbiome during this adolescent phase when your microbiota remains to be progressing toward a stable adult state, you are going to have profound effects on the maturing skeleton,” Carson said, as per the outlet.
Interestingly, the team found that the changes within the gut microbiome because of minocycline also affected the communication between the liver and the small intestine, which takes place through molecules called bile acids.
“Bile acids had not previously been regarded as vital communication molecules between the gut and the skeleton,” Novince said, in keeping with the outlet. “By changing the gut microbiome, the makeup of the bile acids is altered, which influences host physiology, including skeletal maturation.”
The altered gut microbiome created a distinct pool of bile acids. These several types of bile acids couldn’t activate bone-forming cells called osteoblasts, which, in turn, decreased bone formation and mineralization by greater than 30%.
“This was truly collaborative science, which is where I feel we’re at today,” Novince said. “To drive high-impact science, it’s essential usher in experts from different professions and disciplines. We were fortunate to have a extremely strong team. It was fun – the entire thing was exciting!”