Antiparasitic effects on the gut microbiome

We tested the effects of two common antiparasitics on the gut microbiome of healthy mice to understand whether there were off-target effects on the microbiome. Mice were treated with either albendazole or metronidazole, which are a broad-spectrum anthelmintic and antiprotozoal/antimicrobial. As has been found with antibiotics, drug treatment could be having off-target effects on the gastrointestinal tract that may exacerbate symptoms of disease.

本研究针对两种常见抗寄生虫药（antiparasitics）对健康小鼠肠道微生物组（gut microbiome）的影响开展实验，以探究此类药物是否会对微生物组产生脱靶效应（off-target effects）。实验小鼠分别接受阿苯达唑（albendazole）或甲硝唑（metronidazole）给药，其中阿苯达唑属于广谱驱虫药（broad-spectrum anthelmintic），甲硝唑则兼具抗原生动物与抗菌活性（antiprotozoal/antimicrobial）。正如抗生素相关研究的已有发现，此类药物治疗可能会对胃肠道产生脱靶效应，进而可能加剧疾病症状。