Antibiotic resistance and simultaneous pain medication use

Antibiotic resistance is one of the main problems in medicine today. This phenomenon causes more deaths than HIV and malaria combined. A recent study has shown that certain commonly administered drugs may increase antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotics are used to fight infections caused by bacteria and 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 every year since their discovery. However, their widespread use, sometimes inappropriately as in the case of viral infections, has led to 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚. This phenomenon is due either to mutations or to the acquisition of resistance genes. The administration of antibiotics also causes a 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐞, which weakens the protection it provides.

A recent study published in the journal 𝑛𝑝𝑗 𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 has shown that taking several 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 may increase the risk of antibiotic resistance. In particular, they reported that consuming 𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧 at concentrations similar to those found in the human intestine, in parallel with the 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧, increased the frequency of mutations and conferred 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝑬. 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒊 bacteria. These drugs had no effect on the bacteria when administered alone (without ciprofloxacin). After 48 hours in the presence of the antibiotic and paracetamol or ibuprofen, the bacteria required a 𝟏𝟔-𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

The simultaneous use of these 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧, particularly among certain populations 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲. This contributes to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and highlights the need to exercise 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.