Several studies have investigated the effects of antibiotics on the gut microbiota, in terms of antibiotic resistance, but those on skin microbes are still poorly investigated.

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria mutate and become resistant to drugs used to treat the infection. A recent study showed that the use of systemic antibiotics is associated with the development and expansion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria not only in the gut, but also on the skin.

The results, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggest that antibiotics may have long-lasting effects on the skin microbiota, leading to the persistence of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance on the skin

To analyze the effects of different oral antibiotics on the microbiota of healthy people, Heidi Kong of the National Institutes of Health and her colleagues administered one of four antibiotic regimens to study participants:

The team collected gut, oral, and skin microbiota samples from participants before, during, and up to one year after antibiotic treatment.

“Our results demonstrated substantial alteration and resilience of the skin microbiota after systemic antibiotic administration, varying in magnitude across subjects and regimens,” the authors state.

Conclusions

Antibiotics can therefore alter the skin microbiota and cause the development of antibiotic resistance, which can persist for nearly a year after treatment ends. “Our results demonstrate that the skin, which continuously disperses the microbiota into the environment, is an important niche for the selection and persistence of antibiotic-resistant organisms and represents an understudied reservoir for the spread of antimicrobial resistance,” the study authors conclude.