Crohn's disease: the use of antibiotics among the potential risk factors

The use of antibiotics may be a potential risk factor for Crohn's disease, say the authors of a UK study published in the journal "Gut".
Crohn's disease, characterized by inflammation of the digestive tract, is considered a disease involving a genetic component and an environmental component, reminiscent of the team led by Dr Tom Card, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health University of Nottingham.
But uncertainty about the influence of environmental factors that could explain the increased incidence of the disease in recent years: appendectomy, antibiotics, birth control pills or smoking are particular targets of the study.

Knowing that disorders of the gastrointestinal tract often prove to be related to the state of flora, British researchers have sought to determine whether the use of antibiotics was or was not a risk factor for developing Crohn's disease.

To do this, they analyzed the British General Practice Research Database, one of the largest computerized medical databases, which contains anonymous information on diagnoses and prescriptions of almost 5% of British GPs. Their study included information on nearly 600 patients with Crohn's disease with those of more than 1,400 people "control" not being met.

While nearly three-quarters (71%) of those who developed the disease had taken antibiotics in the past two to five years before the diagnosis, this proportion was only 58% among the subjects' control "who did not develop the disease.

In addition, data analysis also indicates that the average number of "cures" of antibiotics appears to influence the risk of developing Crohn's disease (treatment average for members of the group "control" against two on average for patients who became ill).

If the results of this study indicate that the use of antibiotics may play a role in the onset of Crohn's disease, further studies are needed, especially to observe the effects of exposure to antibiotics in children the authors note. Indeed, part of the overuse of antibiotics observed in the group of "sick" may correspond to the requirements for treating the symptoms of Crohn's disease before it has been diagnosed.