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What role do antibiotics have in the treatment of IBD?

Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 5, pages 670–671 (2008)Cite this article

The chronic idiopathic IBDs, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, seem to be caused by an excessively aggressive immune response to antigenic stimuli in the gut of genetically susceptible individuals.1 IBDs are mostly treated with immunosuppressors, but clinicians often use antibiotics because some symptoms, such as fever, purulent stools, abscesses and other septic signs, have been considered to be caused by bacteria.2

The first phase in linking bacteria to IBD was the attempt to find and treat a hypothetical primary infectious agent of IBD. Crohn's disease is pathologically similar to intestinal tuberculosis and Johne's disease in ruminants, both of which are caused by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. A combination of antibiotics active against atypical mycobacteria was, therefore, adopted in clinical trials of Crohn's disease; however, this combination was shown to be unsuccessful, a finding that has subsequently been confirmed.3,4

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  1. Azienda Ospedaliera San Camillo-Forlanini, Department of Gastroenterology, Via Monterosi 116, Rome 00191, Italy prantera@tin.it

Authors and Affiliations

  1. C Prantera is Head of the Division of Gastroenterology at Azienda Ospedaliera, San Camillo-Forlanini, Rome, Italy.,

    Cosimo Prantera

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  1. Cosimo Prantera
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Competing interests

C Prantera is a Consultant and has received grant/research support from Alpha-Wasserman.

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Prantera, C. What role do antibiotics have in the treatment of IBD?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 5, 670–671 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep1273

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