Influence of Probiotics on Antibiotic Therapy

Antibiotics are the most prominent advances in medicine and have provided great benefits in the treatment and control of infectious diseases. Antibiotics do not differentiate good and bad germs, disrupting normal microflora and causing vitamin deficiency in the human body. They also kill healthy bacteria in the gut on a large scale, weakening the host's defence mechanism. AAD is a common side effect of antibiotic usage, which affects up to 30% of patients. Probiotics are live microorganisms, belonging to the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, although strains of other species are commercialized, that have a beneficial effect on the host. From the perspective of antibiotic use, probiotics have been observed to reduce the risk of certain infectious disease such as antibiotic associated diarrhea, respiratory tract infection and also prevent secondary infections. This may be accompanied with a reduced need of antibiotics for secondary infections with protective and therapeutic effects against diseases and infectious agents. Probiotics have generally been considered safe; however, there have been rare reports of sepsis and fungemia associated with probiotic use, especially in critically ill and immunosuppressed patients.

Keywords: Antibiotics, probiotics, lactobacillus, bifidobacterium.