Antibiotics and the nervous system: More than just the microbes?
Abstract
The use of antibiotics has recently risen to prominence in neuroscience due to their potential value in studying the microbiota-gut-brain axis. In this context they have been largely employed to illustrate the many influences of the gut microbiota on brain function and behaviour. Much of this research is bolstered by the abnormal behaviour seen in germ-free animals and other well-controlled experiments. However, this literature has largely failed to consider the neuroactive potential of antibiotics themselves, independent from, or in addition to, their microbicidal effects. This is problematic, as clinical as well as experimental literature, largely neglected through the past decade, has clearly demonstrated that broad classes of antibiotics are neuroactive or neurotoxic. This is true even for some antibiotics that are widely regarded as not absorbed in the intestinal tract, and is especially concerning when considering the highly-concentrated and widely-ranging doses that have been used. In this review we will critically survey the clinical and experimental evidence that antibiotics may influence a variety of nervous system functions, from the enteric nervous system through to the brain and resultant behaviour. We will discuss substantial evidence which clearly suggests neuro-activity or -toxicity by most classes of antibiotics. We will conclude that, while evidence for the microbiota-gut-brain axis remains strong, clinical and experimental studies which employ antibiotics t…
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Antibiotic-induced ablation of the gut microbiota in rodents results in long-term effects on neurochemistry and behavior.
“antibiotic-induced ablation of the gut microbiota in rodents results in long-term effects on neurochemistry and behavior (Champagne-Jorgensen et al., 2019;Desbonnet et al., 2015;Guida et al., 2018;Neufeld et al., 2011)”
From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Champagne-Jorgensen et al., 2019
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“Since the carbon source and/or oxygen transfer are usually the limiting factor, the microorganisms are not in the exponential growth phase for a long time [33, 34].”
BackgroundHow effective are antibiotics for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome?
Black, C. J., & Ford, A. C. (2020) · Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy · doi:10.1080/14656566.2020.1808623 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Neff, A. S. (2020) · Clinical Therapeutics · doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2020.02.002 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Doxycycline Therapeutic Approach in Parkinson’s Disease and L-DOPA-Induced Dyskinesia
Del-Bel, E., Bortolanza, M., Nascimento, G. C. D., Raisman-Vozari, R., Pereira, M. D. S., González-Lizárraga, F., Parrales, V., Michel, P., Ploper, D., Ávila, C., et al. (2021) · Handbook of Neurotoxicity · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-71519-9_215-1 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Devi, S., Debnath, N., Yadav, P., Satyavolu, S., Yadav, A. K., & Tyagi, N. (2026) · Comprehensive physiology · doi:10.1002/cph4.70165 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…have reported the antibiotic-induced disturbance of gut microbiota, which induces a range of detrimental effects, such as altered ENS function and aberrant CNS gene expression in both animal models and clinical studies, resulting in psychiatric diseases (Champagne-Jorgensen et al. 2019).”
Yu, W.-W., Zheng, X.-Y., Chen, X., Liu, C., Li, B., Lv, L., Liu, Y.-X., Li, J., Li, X., Luo, Y., et al. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jece.2025.120243 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Skoufa, L., Ourda, D., Barkoukis, V., & Tsorbatzoudis, H. (2025) · Sports · doi:10.3390/sports13120434 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“For instance, individuals who perceive these drugs as harmless, feel confident about their knowledge of safe usage, are more competitive and have surface motives hold more positive attitudes toward their use [38,39].”
Semenova, Y., Dadar, M., Makalkina, L., Lim, L., & Bjørklund, G. (2025) · Molecular Neurobiology · doi:10.1007/s12035-025-05448-6
“The inflammatory response in encephalitis poses a substantial challenge in its effective management due to the resistance of these agents to conventional antimicrobial treatments [75].”
NEUROPSYCHIATRIC ADVERSE EFFECTS OF ANTIBACTERIAL AGENTS
Cyriac, S. T., & Iype, D. S. (2021) · International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences · doi:10.22159/ijpps.2021v13i12.42482 · Cited by 1
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“As previously outlined, the present study does not encompass long-term effects of FMT. Importantly, these factors should be considered in subsequent studies to investigate the occurrence of structural brain changes over time.”
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Regulation by Gut Microbiota for Anti-Aging
Hwang, E., & Park, J.-Y. (2025) · Current Topic in Lactic Acid Bacteria and Probiotics · doi:10.35732/ctlabp.2025.11.2.74
Gut microbiota as a modulator of circadian neural development in the honey bee modelPreprint
Koru, Y. B., Beer, K., Ruggieri, A. A., Rodríguez-Cordero, J. A., Aviles-Rios, E., Anderson, M., Citron-Rodriguez, E. A., Montes-Mercado, A., Jesús‐Cortés, H. D., Giannoni‐Guzmán, M. A., et al. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.09.30.678393
“To account for a potential microbiota-independent pathway by which antibiotics may adversely influence host behavior 37 , we employed an alternative microbial manipulation: newly emerged bees were exposed to nurse bees from two different colonies (Donor 1415 and Donor 1456), creating two…”
Numerical analysis and calculation of fractional neuron transmission model
Wang, E., & Luan, X. (2024) · Journal of Physics, Conference Series · doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2791/1/012063
“The occurrence of vascular diseases is a long and complex physiological process, which is controlled by various aspects such as the nervous system, blood circulation system, and human self-regulation The nervous system is the dominant system in the body [6, 7].”
- Authors
- Champagne-Jorgensen, K., Kunze, W. A., Forsythe, P., Bienenstock, J., & McVey Neufeld, K.-A.
- Affiliations
- St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Bienenstock, John
- Venue
- Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 77
- Pages
- 7-15
- ISSN
- 0889-1591 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2905767677
- Cited by
- 92
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 12
- FWCI
- 1.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Brain Behavior and Immunity (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- CIHR
- CAG
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Antibiotics Pharmacokinetics and Efficacy
- Keywords
- antibiotics, neurotoxicity, microbiota-gut-brain axis, gut microbiota, germ-free animals, enteric nervous system, behavior
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Animals, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Brain, Central Nervous System, Central Nervous System Depressants, Humans, Intestines, Nervous System, Enteric Nervous System, Gastrointestinal Tract, Microbiota
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