Credit: Science Photo Library / Alamy Stock Photo

Commonly used medications affect gastrointestinal microbial abundances and bacterial gene expression, which may both positively and negatively contribute to the effects on human health associated with drug treatment.

Further reading

Maurice, C. F., Haiser, H. J. & Turnbaugh, P. J. Xenobiotics shape the physiology and gene expression of the active human gut microbiome. Cell 152, 39–50 (2013).

Maier L. et al. Extensive impact of non-antibiotic drugs on human gut bacteria. Nature 555, 623–628 (2018).

Zimmermann, M. et al. Separating host and microbiome contributions to drug pharmacokinetics and toxicity. Science 363, eaat9931 (2019).