The effect of antimicrobial agents on fecal flora of children

Abstract

Influences of antibiotics on the fecal flora in children were studied for oral ampicillin, penicillin V, erythromycin, cefaclor, and gentamicin and for intravenous ainpicillin, methicillin, cefpiramide, and ceftazidime. AU antibiotics affected the normal flora, although the quality and quantity of the changes were variable. No substantial differences were noted between the oral and intravenous use of ampicillin with regard to its effect on the flora. Three penicillins, ampicillin, penicillin V, and niethicillin, caused remarkable changes. The characteristic pattern observed was the considerable suppression of Bifidobacterium, Streptococcus, and Lactobacillus species. Although enterobacteria did not significantly change in number, Klebsiella spp. frequently replaced Escherichia coli. In patients given erythromycin and cefaclor, the reduction in the number of Bifidobacterium spp. was 1 logio and that of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae was 3 log1o.Gentamicin administered orally caused a drastic change, including a remarkable decline, of E. coli to less than 2 loglo/g of feces. Cefpiramide, a parenteral expanded-spectrum cephalosporin, suppressed normal flora so markedly that almost all species of organisms were eradicated, and the active growth of yeasts was promoted (2.6 loglo increase). Ceftlzidime caused similar changes as cefpiramide, but the changes were less extensive.

Prospective evaluation of effects of broad-spectrum antibiotics on gastrointestinal yeast colonization of humans

“…tract. Similar findings were shown by other investigators who used animals and humans (2,6,11,12,14,16,18,19,25,29). However, this study was the first to compare directly the findings obtained with animals with those obtained with humans by using the same antimicrobial agents.…”

Effects of aztreonam on fecal flora and on vitamin K metabolism

“…Plasma and urine were taken from patients before treatment and from days 3 to 5 of antibiotic use. Quantitative aerobic and anaerobic cultures were undertaken by a method described previously (22). Stool specimens were immediately put into a sterile transport medium filled with CO2 gas and stored at 4°C until they were cultured.…”

“…The clinical efficacy of aztreonam in aerobic gram-negative infections has been shown by many investigators (7,24). The impact of antibiotics on fecal flora is well-known, and the effects of some antibiotics on fecal flora have been reported (5,22,25). Although aztreonam might be expected to have little influence on fecal flora because of the features of activity of this agent against bacteria, there are few reports about the effect of aztreonam on fecal flora (6).…”

Antibiotic-Induced Perturbations of the Intestinal Microbiota Alter Host Susceptibility to Enteric Infection

“…The effect of antibiotics on intestinal microbiota has been poorly evaluated beyond studies of induction of resistance (26,35,47). Additionally, most previous studies used culture techniques to evaluate the effect of tested antibiotics on microbiota (17,36,45), severely limiting the scope of assessment. Our evaluation involved culture-independent techniques, providing a novel glimpse at the extent of antibioticinduced changes in the intestinal microbiota.…”