Medications may leave a lasting imprint on the gut microbio…
Medications may leave a lasting imprint on the gut microbiome.
A large Estonian microbiome cohort (n=2,509) found that the effects of medication use can persist for years after treatment. Antibiotics, antidepressants, ẞ-blockers, and even drugs like benzodiazepines were among the drug classes associated with long-term microbiome changes. The impact also appeared additive i.e., the more a medication was used, the stronger its association with the microbiome.
Past medication use and not just current treatment could shape how we interpret disease–microbiome associations.
Source
Aasmets O, Taba N, Krigul KL, et al. A hidden confounder for microbiome studies: medications used years before sample collection. mSystems. 2025 Oct 22;10(10):e0054125. doi: 10.1128/msystems.00541-25. Epub 2025 Sep 5.
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