Gut bacteria may change the way many drugs work in the body

Gut bacteria may change the way many drugs work in the body

Now, a sweeping survey of these interactions suggests that gut bacteria can modify many drugs and that the genetic makeup of a patient’s microbiota may predict that person’s response to medications, researchers report online June 3 in Nature. Researchers tested the ability of 76 types of bacteria — selected to represent the microbial diversity of the human gut — to alter the molecular structure of 271 oral drugs, from hormones to antiviral medications. Such insight may help clinicians choose medications, or decide whether to prescribe a treatment to make a person’s gut bacteria more amenable to a certain drug.

Source: www.sciencenews.org