Antibiotics Use Linked to Type-1 Diabetes in Mice: Study

Mice that took antibiotics developed more type-1 diabetes in a new study

Antibiotics are powerful medicines that destroy bacteria, and they’re lifesavers when an infection caused by dangerous microbes needs to be overtaken. But in the U.S., about half of all prescriptions written for antibiotics are inappropriate. The drugs aren’t just overprescribed in adults; one study found that antibiotics are prescribed to kids about twice as often as they should be.
To treat problems from sore throats to acne, doctors expose kids early and often—and scientists have been finding links between antibiotic use and rising chronic illnesses. A new study in mice published in the journal Nature Microbiology finds a link between type-1 diabetes and antibiotic use.

Type-1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease diagnosed mostly in childhood, has a genetic influence, but it has risen rapidly since World War II and is affecting increasingly younger children. “That means there’s some strong environmental aspect,” says study author Dr. Martin Blaser, professor of microbiology and director of the Human Microbiome Program at New York University Langone Medical Center.
Blaser has a hunch that the widespread use of antibiotics is driving this increase. In the new study, Blaser and his team took a group of diabetic mice and gave them one of two doses of antibiotics: either a very low dose, which mimicked the amount given to livestock on farms, or a higher dose, the same amount kids typically get to treat their ear or throat infections.