Antibiotics decrease brain cell development and memory retention

Antibiotics are the key players of allopathic medicines for treating low level infections to high end surgeries. Though antibiotics are saving countless lives of people but it has many side effects in general. Human and all multi-cellular animals that harbors microorganisms known as microbiota of its own. A microbiota of paricular individual includes different types of bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi and viruses present in that individual. When we are talking about total microorganisms present in the gut it is known as, gut microbiota. Gut microbiota contain both good as well as pathogenic (bad) bacteria. These good bacteria (Bifidus spp., Lactobacillus spp.) helps in digestion of food, synthesis of vitamins etc. Antibiotics, in other hand kills these good bacteria and have negative impact on gut physiology by changing the gut environment. An Article published in international journal "Cell Reports" by Mohle et al. 2016 regarding prolonged antibiotic treatment on brain cell plasticity in mouse model. In that author reported that antibiotics treatment decreases neurogenesis of hippocampus and memory retention. In recent years when scientists are worrying about emerging global threats like antimicrobial resistance, superbugs due to overuse and misuse of antibiotics, in that condition this article adds a feather for war against overuse and misuse of antibiotics.

But the good news is that decrease in neurogenesis and memory retention can be reversed with supplementation of probiotics and sound physical exercise, which is quite interesting.