Antibiotics are often prescribed for sick patients and they have to be taken according to either the dosage guidelines or the medical practitioner’s judgment. Antibiotics are the most widely used drugs for infectious diseases caused by bacteria. Antibiotics work by killing and preventing the development of these bacteria. Each infection may require a different kind of antibiotics.

Along with the relatively high use of antibiotics, various health problems arise because of bacterial resistance to these antibiotics. In addition, long-term use of antibiotics may also increase the risk of aortic disease. A study conducted by Karolinska Institutet, Lund University, and Statens Serum Institut, found that Fluoroquinolone antibiotics have side effects on the aorta, the body’s main artery. This type of antibiotics is often prescribed for the treatment of various bacterial infections, from sinusitis to urinary tract infections.

The researchers conducted a study on 360,088 patients treated with fluoroquinolones and compared them with patients taking amoxicillin. The results showed a 66 per cent increase in the risk of aortic aneurysm or dissection in patients administered fluoroquinolone antibiotics. An aortic aneurysm is a weakened or abnormal bulging on the aortic wall. If this condition is not properly treated, the aortic wall may rupture and cause bleeding at risk of death.

One of the factors involved in the development of aortic disease is increased activity in tissue-degrading enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases, and Fluoroquinolones induce the activity of these enzymes. This may allegedly be the reason of the US FDA’s policy changes on fluoroquinolones' safety label to enhance warning about the risk of disabling and potentially irreversible adverse reactions that can occur, and to limit the use for patients who do not have other available treatment options for acute bacterial sinusitis, acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis and uncomplicated urinary tract infections. However, further studies are still needed on these antibiotics to draw firm conclusion on their side effects on aortic disease.

Text by Anggie Triana
Stock photos from evidencenetwork.ca

Source(s):

• These antibiotics may endanger vascular health (2018),
  https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321193.php, 14 Maret 2018
• Pasternak, B., Inghammar, M., and Svantrom, H. (2018). Fluoroquinolone use and risk of aortic aneurysm and dissection: nationwide cohort study. The British Medical Journal, doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k678